Wet and dry waste processing has started in Ullal and in another six months no waste will be sent to Mangaluru for processing and disposal at Pachchanady, said Ullal City Municipal Commissioner Rayappa here on Saturday.
Speaking at a workshop on ‘Making Mangaluru an Environmentally Just City: Sustainable and Just Solid Waste Management Strategies’, Mr. Rayappa said the Ullal City Municipal Council has started processing both dry and wet waste, generated by about 65,000 people in the municipality limits.
The dry waste in the municipality area is being recycled. The manure produced by the processing of wet waste is being used by farmers in and around Ullal, he said.
Mr. Rayappa said it took about six months to make people understand the need to segregate dry and wet waste while handing it to municipal staff during the house-to-house collection.
“We had to stop collecting non-segregated waste for a few days,” he said, and added that NGOs and elected representatives used to convince people to segregate waste.
The municipal council procured 36 concrete bins from Kannur that enabled processing of 2 tonnes of wet waste per day by using coconut husk and dry leaves. In a month, the council got good manure from it which is now sold as ‘Ullal’ organic manure. People from Ullal and Mangaluru are regularly purchasing it for their fields and kitchen gardens.
Among the many who have started processing wet waste at the source, include nine schools and colleges. A private firm was processing chicken waste and feed of animals. Waste management is being decentralised and waste processing units are being opened in each ward. Council personnel took steps to clear eight black spots, where waste was being dumped, and took steps to beautify it.
The Ullal beach, Mr. Rayappa said, has become a plastic-free beach. “If anybody is found selling plastic, action will be taken to keep their trade licence under suspension,” he said.
Member-secretary of Dakshina Kannada District Legal Services Authority Prithviraj Vernekar spoke about the way the district authority initiated steps for the State authority to file public interest litigation against pollution of the Phalguni.
The seminar was jointly organised by the Mangaluru City Corporation, Bengaluru-based Environment Support Group, and Break Free from Plastic.
Published - November 13, 2021 07:44 pm IST
