After introducing the scheme of collecting non-degradable plastic waste every Wednesdays from December 21, the Tirunelveli Corporation has so far collected 234.36 tonnes of hazardous garbage, thanks to public cooperation, particularly from women, and the sustained monitoring by officials of the urban civic body, led by Commissioner S. Sivasubramanian.
When the Corporation was upgraded in 1994, the total quantum of waste being generated within the jurisdiction of the urban civic body stood below 100 tonnes a day.
However, the urban civic body with 55 wards started struggling to manage solid waste, mostly hazardous plastic waste, when garbage generation crossed 100 tonnes and now it stands at 160 tonnes a day.
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The problem worsened after the sprawling garbage dump at Ramaiyanpatti witnessed fire accidents and became a potential breeding ground for houseflies. This led to protests by the locals, who approached the court with the prayer of compelling the Corporation to implement a credible solid waste management system in the wake of a Supreme Court verdict.
Having left with no other option, the Corporation hired consultants for converting a portion of the solid waste dumped at the yard into manure while converting the remaining portion into grass mounds by scientifically covering it with polythene sheets.
“Even as large portion of the garbage at Ramaiyanpatti is being converted into ‘grass mounds’, the remaining degradable waste in the yard is being converted into manure by dumping it in 170 huge pits. We’ve decided to give the manure to the farmers and also to kitchen gardens free of cost. Moreover, we’ve planned to involve the Department of Agriculture also in this mission by giving incentives to those who use this manure instead of nourishing their crop with chemical fertilizers. No longer will there be fire accidents at our garbage dump nor nauseating odour emanating from the waste heaped there,” Mr. Sivasubramanian told
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The success of this exercise lies in the intensive collection of plastic waste on a dedicated day every week. After the collection of plastic waste on Wednesdays moved to top gear, incidents of clogged drainage channels or underground drainage system has come down drastically.
The quantum of plastic waste getting collected on Wednesdays is also gradually declining, thanks to the awareness created by the Corporation among the residents, particularly women, children, self-help group women, religious leaders, Lions and Rotary Clubs etc.
Moreover, the Corporation has asked hospitals, hostels and hotels to handle by themselves the waste – degradable, non-degradable and biomedical wastes - getting generated on their premises. Beedi manufacturing units have been told to collect the beedi leaf waste from the rollers along with the collection of finished product.
“The sanitary condition in the city has improved a lot, thanks to these collective measures. Consequently, the number of patients coming to hospitals with harmful infections and vector-borne diseases has also come down. You can verify our claim with any hospital in Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai,” Mr. Sivasubramanian noted.