Garbage disposal still a problem

By S. Shanker

CHENNAI, AUG. 15. A solution for better garbage management has eluded many local bodies in the city periphery, despite their resolve to address the issue while coming to power five years ago.

Creating compost yards, segregation at source, people's participation for disposal of waste, privatisation of garbage collection services and more infrastructure support to remove garbage have featured in these council meetings. But, when it came to transition from the conceptual stage to action, they were found wanting in both direction and follow-up.

Most local bodies, which had earlier resorted to dumping of waste in uninhabited areas in their limits, have found that the dumping grounds are no more accessible. Residential colonies that had sprung up in the periphery have started objecting to the unhygienic practice.

Some, such as those in Kallikuppam, have even gone to court protesting the disposal of refuse in their localities citing health and hygiene.

With city water managers repeatedly campaigning for rainwater harvesting as a sustainable method of water management, the focus has shifted to the lakes and water bodies, which many local bodies have found convenient as dumping yards.

Recently, resident welfare associations in southern suburbs agreeing on the need to adopt water harvesting techniques, questioned the authorities on the state of the water sources, which had for long sustained the groundwater table in their areas. The Exnora Innovators Club of Adambakkam had even submitted a proposal for beautification of the Adambakkam Lake to the Collector.

The only initiative on waste management is the MoU which Alandur municipality signed for composting waste generated in the town. The private agency however is waiting for CMDA clearance during the last seven months.

Local body heads of Tambaram, Pallavaram, Ambattur concede that garbage disposal is a major problem. While Pallavaram municipality has been directed to transport part of its waste to Tambaram and the rest to Pallikaranai, the municipal chairman, Mr. K. Adaikalam, said transportation was a problem and its privatisation was being thought of as an alternative.

The Ambattur municipality, which wanted to develop a compost yard at Kallikuppam, is waiting for the court verdict to proceed further. Mr. M. M. Krishnamurthy, municipal chairman, said an agreement had been reached with a private agency for composting.

Rather than going in for scientific methods of waste disposal, many of the local bodies close to Pallikaranai have started transporting garbage to the 15 acre site leased out for composting waste by the Alandur municipality.

Exnora International, which has successfully proved that residents' participation could lead to better waste management, says decentralised, location-specific composting with source segregation is the answer to mounting garbage problems.

Mr. M. B. Nirmal, founder chairman, Exnora, said ``compostable waste'' should not be transported and only the ``non-recyclable'' portion should be sent to landfills, which according to him constitute no more than four per cent of municipal waste. Centralisation of facilities compounded problems as transportation meant infrastructure and maintenance, besides being expensive and polluting.

Sections of industry, such as plastic manufacturers are also yet to involve local bodies in finding a solution to environmentally sensitive waste generated due to high consumption of plastics.

Meanwhile, the local bodies continue with their old ways.

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Section  : Southern States
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