PANJIM: In a bid to ease its huge bio-medical waste problem, the Goa Medical College has begun testing its newly acquired bio-medical waste incinerator feeding small amounts of medical waste to it initially.

“We have started using it. Right now, trial runs are on with the help of officials of the company,” Dr Sunanda Amonkar, the medical superintendent said. This is GMC’s latest effort to deal with its both municipal solid waste as well as biomedical waste, which it has been grappling with for years. Earlier there were complaints that the incinerator used to break down frequently because it was fed with mixed waste.

Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) will start collecting hazardous waste from industrial units in Bangalore. K.S. Vamanacharya, Chairman, KSPCB, said in a release, “The board in way to reach to the industries is to make them aware of the pollution which is being caused by indiscriminate disposal of hazardous waste particularly from Small and Medium scale Industries (MSME’s).”

In Bangalore, the board has taken the initiative to establish closed loop system to collect hazardous waste from the industries’ doorsteps in association with used oil reprocessing company Arun Industries, No.193, III Phase, PIA, Bangalore-58, which is operating within the Peenya Industrial Area, and hazardous waste incineration facility by Bangalore Incinerators Ltd, Plot No 28, KIADB Industrial Area, Tumkur.

Waste-free Maradu’, an ambitious programme to free the municipal area of waste heaped on the roadside and curb unsustainable waste disposal practices has ended up drawing a lot of flak from residents. However, the municipal authority has defended its programmes, launched about a year ago.

The municipal authority’s pipe compost, bio-gas and soon-to-be-launched bio-pots programmes are aimed at getting rid of waste generated by households and business establishments in a sustainable manner.

Margao Municipal Council’s solid waste management plant finally stands commissioned at Sonsodo. Open dumping of waste is now a thing of the past. But, the civic body has a long way to go in tackling tons of waste generated in the commercial capital, reports Guilherme Almeida

After a bitter experience with Komex International and Hyquip Ltd, Margao Municipal Council’s solid waste treatment plant has finally taken shape at Sonsodo. Fomento Green has commissioned its waste treatment plant at the site as per the concession agreement with the Margao civic body. But, a host of issues remain unresolved, including door-to-door waste collection, landfill site for the residual waste, capping of existing waste, consultant to certify work at the plant and to guide the civic body in signing the modified agreement with Fomento Green.

PONDA: Environment Minister Alina Saldanha has urged people to act responsibly to solve the growing garbage problem in the State.

She was addressing a function at the Goa Vidhyaprasarak Mandal’s (GVM) plastic-free campaign at Ponda on Thursday. As part of the drive, students from the GVM’s schools were asked to collect plastic waste generated at their homes. The idea behind such a drive was to prevent plastic waste being thrown in the open. Mass plastic waste collected over three months was taken to A J de Almeida School, Ponda, on Thursday.

Chennai Corporations plans to introduce specially-designed bags; move follows study by civic body

The Chennai Corporation has planned to replace garbage bins with specially-designed bags to facilitate better collection of refuse in the city. The new system is intended to prevent ragpickers from spoiling the area around a garbage bin, according to sources in the Chennai Corporation. A study by the civic body has found that ragpickers contribute to scattering of garbage on the roads. Most of the garbage being taken out of bins by thousands of ragpickers on a daily basis is strewn all around to facilitate easy identification of recyclable items in the garbage. The ragpickers fail to put the garbage back in the bins, thereby spoiling entire stretches on roads, the study had found.

The Poorna river, passing through Tripunithura, has become a dumpyard of organic, toilet and slaughter house wastes. Sensing the environmental damages caused by the pollutants, the Balagokulam Kochi Mahanagaram members have come forward against the practice on the river on which the ‘Thoni Ezhunelipu’ ritual, held as part of Poornathrayeesha temple fest, is being conducted.

“The ‘Thonni Kadavu’, situated in the western part of the river, is the most affected area. Sewage from Kochi Corporation and Tripunithura Municipal area are being directed to the ‘Kadavu’. This spoils the sanctity of the river,” said K G Sreekumar, district president of Balagokulam Kochi Mahanagaram.

Solid waste produced in Tamil Nadu a day could be put to use for generating electricity, said N.Ramachandran, Vice Chanellor, Periyar Maniammai University (PMU), on Tuesday.

At the two-day workshop on municipal solid waste for renewable energy production at PMU, Mr. Ramachandran said 12,504 tonnes of solid waste is produced in the State a day. This could help in generating 250 MW of power.

Tardy projects at Deonar, Mulund sites irk BMC

The civic administration, fed up with the delay in partial closure of the Deonar dumping ground and setting up of a methanisation plant at the Mulund dumping ground, is being forced to to consider cancelling the contracts of companies handling these sites. Most of the waste generated in the city ends up at the Deonar dumping ground. Officials say there has been an inordinate delay in scientific closure of the site.

The ministry of urban development has released data that states that Indians generate 115,000 million tons of municipal solid waste every day.

Unfortunately, metro cities including Bengaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, Mumbai, Delhi and Pune are no longer able to cope with these mountains of trash. Mumbai alone is generates over 5,500 tons of garbage every day while smaller cities are touching the 1,000 tons per day mark. The problem is equally acute across states. Lack of garbage management has driven high-end tourists away from Goa, according to the data.