The City Corporation is gearing up to qualify itself for the second round of Smart City funding, taking the assistance of national and international entities.
A report prepared by Royal Danish Embassy, New Delhi; Innovation Centre Denmark, India; and The East Asiatic Company Foundation, Denmark, provides the direction for transformation of the city into 'Smart Green Erode', with involvement of Danish companies specialising in water body restoration projects across canals and rives, and projects for integrated road design with non-motorised transportation facilities.
According to the report, the main problems in Erode, identified as fastest growing and most industrialised districts in the State, constitute traffic congestion around central bus stand that handles 1000 buses a day, and industrial water pollution caused by dumping of industrial wastes in water bodies.
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Gaps in waste segregation at sources and over used landfills have arisen in the absence of waste water system and solid waste management system due to which there was heavy mixing of sewage in storm water drains, which eventually flows into the canals, lakes, and the Cauvery river, and seeps into the ground water. This is considered as one of the root causes for the lack of consistent supply of drinking water within the city.
Effective role being played by two NGOs Olirum Erodu Foundation and Erodai has been factored in for maintaining and sustaining cleanliness of canals, development of electronic waste management processes, reduction of household waste dumping into water bodies and also rehabilitation of human encroachment along canals in the city.