They have decided not to give plastic bags for free to customers and instead encourage them to use cloth bags

Move, a prelude to ban plastics in 16 town panchayats from August 15

DMK members oppose the move citing earlier ‘bitter’ experience

The Vellore Corporation is to privatise solid waste management- right from garbage clearance and up to segregation and generation of compost- in all its four zones.

Only 18 buildings in Corporation area have installed solar panels

While the crippling power cut till about a fortnight ago has made people talk about tapping solar energy, , Vellore residents are yet to even think about it due to lack of awareness on the availability and cost of solar energy equipment.

The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) will install solar panels in its buildings across the State at a cost of Rs 3 crore during the current financial year, said M.C. Sampath, Environment Minister here on Wednesday.

Replying to the debate on the demands for grants for his department, Mr Sampath said that at present the head office and nine offices in the districts were functioning on its own premises with laboratory facilities.

Even as waste collection has been intensified in Vellore city, Corporation officials are clueless about how to dispose piles of garbage generated every day.

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.

Vellore Collector Ajay Yadav on Wednesday laid the foundation for the Rs.45-lakh `Electricity Generation from Bio-Wastes’ project in Arcot Municipality, which he said was a pilot project for municipalities throughout Tamil Nadu, aimed at keeping the towns totally garbage-free.

Mr. Yadav sought the cooperation of the public in the successful implementation of the project, especially in the daily collection of bio-degradable vegetable wastes from houses, marriage halls and hotels.

The Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) would be undertaking a survey of the slums in Vellore Corporation with a view to replacing them with pucca individual houses or apartments under the Raji

VELLORE: In an effort to provide better visibility to motorists and road users at night, the Vellore Police Department has installed barricades fitted with solar-powered lights and blinkers at major junctions in the Fort City.

The new barricades have been installed at three major junctions - Makkan, Ariyabhavan and Mummy Hospital - Officers Lane. “Three solar powered barricades, each worth `80,000, are sponsored by a private company.