5,100 tonnes of garbage is collected in chennai Corporation every day. These are collected by around 19,000 sanitation workers and taken to Kodunkaiyur and Perungudi dumping grounds. As per the Solid Waste Management Rules-2016 no steps have been taken to segregate the waste into biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste. Garbage continues to be dumped on the banks of rivers and canals.
Vehicles are the backbone of solid waste management. While there are 15 mandals in the Corporation area, the Corporation is directly carrying out solid waste management works only in Thandaiarpet, Rayapuram, Thiru.V.K.Nagar, Ampathur and Annanagar. 158 big compactor, 211 small compactor machines and 117 tipper trucks are being operated for these works. More than 1000 battery vehicles and 3 wheeler cycles are used. These are not properly maintained.

Tipper trucks do not have mud guard. Due to this, mud is washed away during rainy season. Parts of the trucks were also rusted and damaged. After the news about this was published in the Hindu tamil Vektik newspaper, they put sub-standard plates and welded them. At the same time, government vehicles used by officials are well maintained with quality spare parts at a dedicated repair station. But garbage disposal vehicles don't get that respect, workers allege.

In this regard, Municipal Corporation red Flag Association General Secretary B. Seenivasalu said: If the vehicles used for solid waste management are repaired, they are not repaired at a specialized repair company. Also, a large number of garbage collection vehicles have broken down and stopped. Broken glass on the front is not replaced.
No side mirror fitting. Many have no brakes. The rubber sheet installed on the compactor vehicles that dump the garbage in the bins is not replaced if it is torn. The laborers are managing by tying ropes with available materials.

And all 3-wheeled bicycles, chain, sprocket and pedal, operate as pushchairs without a seat. The resulting physical pain is an additional ordeal. It is mostly women who carry out this work and they suffer the most. Also have to maintain the skies at their own expense. This is what he said.

Mayor R. Priya, Deputy Mayor M. Mahesh Kumar, Additional Commissioner (Health) Shankarlal Kumawat and officials of the Solid Waste Management Department have gone back to Italy, france and spain to inspect the solid waste management projects being carried out abroad without carrying out any of these tasks which should be carried out by the municipal administration. This is now controversial.

In this regard, some people with experience in government administration and solid waste management said: Urpesar Company is carrying out solid waste management works in the zones of Thenampet, Kodambakkam, Valasaravakkam, Alandur, Adyar, Perungudi and Choshinganallur in Chennai. The Corporation provides hundreds of crores of rupees annually to the company for this service.

In this case, the administrative officers of the corporation, including the mayor, should have avoided going abroad at the expense of the company. It is an offense for public servants such as people's representatives and government officials to accept indirect compensation from an organization benefiting from the corporation's administration. The government should never have approved the concept of the corporation management going abroad in the name of research.

The countries visited by the Municipal Corporation and chennai are completely different in terms of climate, mindset of people, implementation of solid waste management, geographical structure, population, traffic etc. The garbage disposed of in chennai contains a large amount of soil. Does not decompose easily. Foreign debris does not contain soil. Easily biodegradable. There is no solution available abroad to manage soiled waste.
Cities such as indore in madhya pradesh and mysore in Karnataka, which continue to top the list of cleanest cities, are managing well. In indore, plastic waste, medical waste, household waste, electrical waste and hazardous waste are collected under 5 categories. But in chennai we are still struggling to separate the garbage into biodegradable and non-biodegradable. If you look there, 80 percent can be implemented in Chennai.

Solid waste management is not rocket technology that can be learned abroad. If houses and shops are sorted and not thrown down, if they are given only to the cleaning staff of the corporation, 90 percent of the city will be clean. people should try to change their mindset accordingly. The Corporation should explore the means for that. Thus they said.

When asked about Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department Secretary Shivdas meena regarding the fact that the municipal administrators have gone abroad, he said, "It is necessary for the policy makers to see how solid waste management works are carried out abroad."

Commissioner J. Radhakrishnan said, "Bio-mining is a new technology and it is good to see how it is carried out abroad."
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S Venkateshwari

28/06/2023 01:00 AM