Deputy Corporation Commissioner P. Manivannan received five tricycles, worth Rs. 1 lakh, donated by Soroptimist International (SI) and Lakshmi Vilas Bank, here on Friday.
The tricycles, with blue (non-biodegradable) and green (biodegradable) compartments, were meant for segregation of household waste and reduce littering.
Anitha Rajarajan, founder-president of the Madurai Chapter, said that it was important to integrate sanitary workers, corporation officials, environmentalists, non-governmental organisations and students to make a change.
R. Vasudevan, Dean, Thiagarajar College of Engineering, asked students to be ambassadors of change. He urge them to work towards building more durable plastic roads across the country.
Naina Shah, mentor and resident environmental consultant of SI, said that waste management was largely based on influencing an entire community. Mridula Ramesh, an environmentalist, said that she found wealth in waste when she set up a biogas plant in her house. “I’ve been able to save gas when I established a biogas plant in my house.”
SI roped in about 100 students from Lady Doak College, The American College and Thiagarajar College to educate residents of Chokkikulam area about source segregation. They said that the knowledge gained in the session will help them practise waste management in their respective premises.
