Chinnalapatti town panchayat has shown the way to others in safe disposal of solid waste, that too by earning a revenue from the discarded articles.
A huge chimpanzee, aesthetically decorated peacock and a giant-size eagle, made of used tyres, welcome farmers and workers at the entrance of the solid waste management centre maintained by the town panchayat, thanks to the novel ideas adopted by waste management workers.
A small shelter, made of used plastic bottles, for workers to relax at the centre is also a symbol of innovation in reusing non-biodegradable waste.
Besides, plastic bags and other plastic waste are converted into powder and sold for laying roads.
Non-biodegradable waste is segregated into 27 items, including footwear, coconut shells, paper packs, glass bottles, water bottles, tins, iron and aluminium scrap, cardboards, PVC articles, and sold for recycling. Organic waste is converted into organic manure.
Waste from chicken and mutton shops is used to feed fish reared in a pond at the centre.
The town panchyat has pumped in more than ₹90 lakh for erecting a segregation shed, plastic waste processing centre and for machinery to shred banana leaves and other hard organic matters and compress plastic waste. The town panchayat generates six tonnes of waste every day, says Executive Officer P. Ganesan.
It has earned ₹1.16 lakh through sale of waste and manure in the last two years. While a major portion of the composted waste is sold as natural manure to farmers, some quantity is kept for use in the garden developed at the centre.
At present, sale of manure has come down sharply owing to monsoon failure and lack of agricultural activities, he adds.
Twenty three town panchayats in Dindigul district generate 41.76 tonnes of degradable waste and 27.840 tonnes of non-biodegradable waste every day. More than 376 sanitary workers and 507 self-help group members are engaged in solid waste management work, says M. Rajendran, Assistant Director of Town Panchayats.
Batalgundu town panchayat has gone one step ahead and started generating biogas from food waste. The biogas generated by it is used by the SHGs for preparing food. Solid waste management has been practised in all the 23 town panchayats, he adds.
