Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board head office informed

The Coimbatore Corporation is not taking any steps for the effective implementation of Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules, the Coimbatore office of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has told its head office. The contents of the report the District Environmental Engineer, Coimbatore (South), P. Asokan sent to the Member Secretary, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, have come to light in the reply to the RTI queries the Secretary of the Kurichi-Vellalore Pollution Prevention Action Committee, K.S. Mohan, filed soon after a fire broke out at the Vellalore waste management facility on October 6

Coimbatore Corporation Council on Thursday resolved to spend Rs 50.67 lakh as its share for the proposed feasibility study on power generation from solid waste and on the implementation of the mono-rail.

The Rs. 50.67 lakh proposed to be spent from the civic body’s general funds is a share while Rs 2.53 crore will be provided by Cities Development Initiative (CDIA) and Asia Development Bank for taking up studies on the projects required for development of the city, 24 x 7 services, training corporation staff towards power generation project from solid waste and for feasibility study of the mono-rail project.

The Solar Power Policy 2012 announced by the Chief Minister on Saturday will give a new lease of life to the industries, especially the micro, small and medium-scale enterprises, according to R. Ramachandran, president of Coimbatore District Small Industries Association.

Mr. Ramachandran has said in a release that Coimbatore was the only city chosen for the solar city project. The association proposed to organise a renewable energy fair here on January next year. This would create tremendous business opportunity for all the solar equipment manufacturers.

If found guilty, a fine will be imposed on the hospital, officials say

The Coimbatore Corporation has issued notice to Ganga Hospital here for attempting to dump biomedical waste at its waste management facility in Vellalore. According to T.K. Ponnusamy, Commissioner, Coimbatore Corporation, the civic body issued the notice on Sunday after the officials on Sunday morning found a bag of biomedical waste in the non-medical waste that was transported from the hospital to the yard. The officials concerned were reportedly tipped off by residents. The waste bag contained used, blood-stained cotton, needles, bags used in blood transmission and gloves. It was a bag weighing just about two kg.

Puducherry Ministers meet Mayor, civic body officials

Puducherry Ministers N.G. Pannirselvam and T. Thiagarajan were at the Coimbatore Corporation on Monday morning, ahead of the Council meeting, to learn about solid waste management programme. Mayor S.M. Velusamy said that the Puducherry Government representatives had come to the city after the Chief Minister Jayalalithaa awarded the ‘Best Corporation’ award to the Coimbatore Corporation.

One of the resolutions the Coimbatore Corporation Council passed at the Monday’s meeting urged the State Government to sanction a mono rail project for the city.

The Mayor proposed the resolution and the Council unanimously accepted it. The Council resolution comes after various associations urged the civic body to take up the issue as the city badly deserved one. More than a fortnight ago, the Residents Awareness Association of Coimbatore urged the Corporation to take up the proposal, saying that cities with far lesser population, area and financial wherewithal had made considerable progress in getting sanction for a mass transport project and a few even commencing preliminary work.

After not-so-successful attempts at source segregation of waste initiatives in the city, the Coimbatore Corporation is gearing up for introducing a few measures aimed at restarting the process. And the civic body has every reason to do so because at stake is Rs. 96 crore – the money it has invested to put in place a solid waste management system.

Sources in the Corporation say that under the Shunya – Zero Waste Management project, the civic body with help from ICLEI, an NGO, and others, is planning to conduct a day-long workshop on source segregation of waste for stake-holders and civil society organisations and follow it up with introducing the process in a few wards on a trial basis.

Monorail will occupy less space, can be completed comparatively early using pre-fabricated structures: RAAC

At a meeting recently, the Residents Awareness Association of Coimbatore (RAAC) asked the Coimbatore Corporation to take up with the State Government the need for a monorail for the city. A presentation made on the occasion said that a city such as Coimbatore, with over a million population, could go in for the mass transport system project, more so when cities with far fewer population and lesser area had taken many steps forward.

The recent showers in the catchment areas of Siruvani reservoir has brought an end to the city’s fear of an impending water scarcity, as the present storage will help in meeting drinking water needs of Coimbatore City and a number of way side habitations for the next two months.

After a delay leading to disappointment over South West Monsoon’s benefits for the city, a sharp spell of showers in July end helped in improving the storage considerably.

It was that found Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan were better prepared and more aware to implement project

Coimbatore is likely to be a part of an international effort to build sustainable, low carbon cities, if things go as planned by ICLEI, an NGO, and the British High Commission. The project aims at encouraging local governments to develop State-level guidelines and leverage international and national funds for such projects.

Pages