The City Corporation is gearing up to revamp its solid waste management initiative.
The project, which is set to roll out in the coming month, will see the introduction of 250 new waste collection vehicles costing ₹2 lakh each, said Corporation Commissioner S. Aneesh Sekhar. “We are going to introduce a more efficient system of waste collection and do away with the tricycles that we currently have. Navigation will be easier through this method.”
The initiative has already received approval from the State and the Central governments and will cost around ₹5 crore.
All vehicles will be fitted with GPS trackers. “Each house and street in the wards will be given specific timings and the garbage collecting vehicle will be on time to collect the segregated waste. Minute-by-minute movement of the vehicle will be monitored by the Corporation,” he said.
The vehicles will also educate the masses about the benefits of scientifically disposing waste and means to do home composting through the public address system.
Apart from the vehicles, a total of 23 new micro composting centres have been identified by the local body to promote the concept of decentralised waste management.
At present, the city generates about 600 tonnes of waste, which is dumped at a 110-acre landfill in Vellakkal. The garbage is hardly ever segregated into biodegradable and non-biodegradable. Large trucks carrying waste often shuttle around the city doing at least six trips in each of the four zones of the Corporation to clear the garbage. The introduction of the micro composting centres will solve the major problem of waste segregation. It will also promote the use of natural compost in local gardens, he said.
“The aim is to completely reduce the inflow into the landfill. This micro composting centres will be housed in Corporation owned-land and will mostly be located in added wards,” said the Commissioner.
Animators will go house to house explaining the importance of a decentralised waste management. “Since the units would handle minimal amount of waste (between one and five tonnes), there would be little chance of overpowering odour. The composting unit would be hardly noticeable but would greatly benefit the public,” he said.