Asking people to segregate waste at their house, Mangaluru City Corporation Commissioner Akshy Sridhar on Saturday said this is necessary to cut the government’s expenditure on waste management.
A large portion of the tax collected is now being spent on waste management and there is little left for taking up development projects. The expenditure on waste management can be reduced if people turned wet waste into compost in their houses and establishments, he said.
Launching a wet-waste treatment facility of Mangaluru Resource Management Limited at Inland Eon Apartment in Matadakani here, Mr. Sridhar said as the city is growing, waste management has become an issue. “It is really a gigantic task to handle the wet waste of 5.5 lakh,” he said. “If people put in more effort in processing waste at their end, then the tax payers’ money can be diverted for development works,” he said.
The MCC, he said, is aggressively working on waste collection and processing. The garbage slip at the Pachchanady dumping yard last August and the resultant orders by the Karnataka High Court, which was followed by directions by State Government on waste management, has led the MCC to expedite things on the matter.
The damage caused from the slip of garbage dumped for over 30 years in Pachchanady has led the State government to pay ₹20 crore as compensation. Another ₹16 crore is being spent on processing the dumped waste. A large amount is now being spent now on handling waste at the site, he said.
While, the MCC has taken up enforcement of waste management rules, it is good to see citizens coming forward to ask the corporation of the ways they can process their waste.
“This change in the thinking of people goes a long way in addressing the issue,” he said.
Earlier, Mr. Sridhar launched the facility at the apartment by pouring wet waste into earthen pots.
The complex with about 40 flats is the 17th in the city that is serviced by start-up Mangaluru Resource Management Limited, which is guided by the Ramakrishna Mission.
“We are showcasing an eco-friendly model of processing wet waste. We should not rely on the government to process the waste generated by us,” said Swami Ekagamyananda of the mission.
President of the Inland Eon Apartment Owners’ Association Krishnadas Prabhu also spoke.
