Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan has dubbed the war against municipal waste a ‘silent revolution’ towards creating a clean and healthy society.

He was inaugurating the distribution of implements for the source level processing of household waste in the municipal area. The Minister stressed the need for combined action from all stakeholders to bring the campaign against waste to a success.

Town Panchayats in Vellore have stepped up measures to ensure the proper implementation of the ban on plastic bags less than 40 microns thick. Teams comprising the executive officers of various town panchayats have been formed to monitor the use of plastic bags after the ban came into effect from September 15.

“The teams are monitoring the use of plastic bags less than 40 microns thick. We have also seized plastic bags from shops across the 16 town panchayat limits in the district. Measures are being taken to regularise the use of plastic above 40 microns thick,” Malayaman Thirumudikari, Assistant Director of Town Panchayats, Vellore, said.

JAIPUR: The civic body, after facing strong criticism for delaying the door-to-door garbage collection scheme, is now finally set to launch it. The contracted A to Z firm will start door-to-door garbage collection from Wednesday in the city.

While talking to media, Jaipur Municipal Corporation's (JMC) chief executive officer (CEO), Lok Nath Soni said, "In the first phase the door-to-door garbage collection will be started in 21 wards of the city from Wednesday." He added "There are 17 wards of Hawa Mahal east and west zone and 4 wards of Civil Lines zones which will be included initially."

Council demands closure of dumping yard

The conflict between Kottayam municipal authorities and the people of Vadavathur over the dumping of municipal waste at the yard there appears to be resurfacing. The action council that was spearheading the protests against dumping of waste at the yard decided on Sunday to re-launch their agitation. The movement had been lying dormant for a while on account of court strictures. However, intense struggle would be re-launched with a declaration on October 2, according to Paulson Peter, convener of the action council.

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), which has taken up solid waste management (SWM) on a war footing, will make segregation of garbage at source a simple process for citizens.

As per a new policy, the Palike will clear dry waste only on Sundays. “We will remove foul-smelling kitchen waste every day. Segregated dry waste can be stored by citizens before it is disposed of by our garbage collectors once a week,” said Palike Commissioner Rajneesh Goel.

‘Hike fine on households that fail to segregate waste at source’

In a terse ruling on Monday, the High Court of Karnataka described the waste management policies of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) as being equivalent to ‘garbage’. The Palike has now been directed to ensure power generation using waste, and to appoint executive magistrates in every ward to slap fine on households which fail to segregate ‘dry’ and ‘wet’ waste.

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will have its own scientific garbage disposal system in place by the end of next year, Commissioner Rajneesh Goel has said.

He also said the BBMP would make segregating garbage in households (and other collection points like offices, schools, etc) mandatory starting next week. The Palike would work out a strategy to clear the garbage from the three existing landfills namely Mandur, Terra Firma and Mavallipura, he added.

Residents supply manure prepared from garbage to the Palike's gardens

Residents of RMV Extension in the City have shown the way in managing household garbage. The Scientific Handing of Waste Society (Shows), set up by the residents of 400 houses in the locality in 1995, has inked a pact with the Palike on segregation and management of garbage generated in the area.

Work on other waste management projects to continue

Garbage in Thrissur city is now being removed by a Salem-based company, amidst accolades and brickbats for the arrangement made by the corporation. Mayor I.P. Paul said that the arrangement would continue for at least three months till the corporation could streamline its projects for decentralised waste management in the city.

24x7 operational control room helps in tackling public grievances

Implementing a global positioning system (GPS) based municipal solid waste transportation has led to saving of more than 48 per cent running cost and increased efficiency by 88 per cent for the Mysore City Corporation (MCC). The statistics on effect of GPS was revealed by Kallatra Technologies director Nishad Ali and project manager B S Vishwanath at the ongoing third international conference on solid waste management ‘ICONSWM-2012’ at the N R Narayana Murthy Centre of Excellence here on Tuesday.