The rural areas of Puducherry and the entire Karaikal region will soon have a proper solid waste management programme, with the Local Administration Department at the advanced stage of rolling out an Integrated Solid Waste Management programme for these areas.
A vast proportion of rural areas in Puducherry and Karaikal had been left out of the territorial administration’s solid waste management programme, though the government had tied up with Swachatha Corporation for managing the garbage generated in Puducherry and Oulgaret Municipalities and a few wards of Ariankuppam and Villianur Commune Panchayats, in 2015.
Now, the LAD, under the Centre’s Swachh Bharat Mission - Gramin programme, would implement the solid waste management programme in the rural villages of Puducherry and the entire Karaikal region by June this year.
Funds to the tune of ₹12 crore would be provided by the Rural Development Department for implementing the programme in Puducherry, and around ₹7 crore for Karaikal.
“The programme involves collection, transportation and disposal of waste. We have already floated the tenders, inviting experienced private players to join the programme. Five to six players have so far evinced interest, and we held pre-bidding consultations also. Our plan is to allot the work by June. Emphasis would be given to players showing expertise in processing waste with no residue,” Ravideep Singh Chahar, Director, LAD, told The Hindu.
The capital expenditure fund would be utilised for providing the infrastructure, including procurement of vehicles, equipment and setting up of the processing unit.
The department had identified five resource recovery centres for processing the waste in the rural areas of Puducherry, he said, adding that the sites would be decided after selecting the private player.
“A few private players having long experience in solid waste management and possessing the latest technology for processing the waste, have joined the tendering process,” Mr. Chahar added.
“As per preliminary estimates, the rural areas of Puducherry produce around 100 to 120 metric tonnes of solid waste per day. The entire Karaikal region produces only around 80 metric tonnes per day. Our Swacch ranking was very low, and to score more points in the coming years, we need to start garbage management in rural [areas] and start processing of urban waste in Puducherry and Oulgaret Municipalities. We are slowly moving in that direction,” he said.
