CHENNAI: The Clean Tamil Nadu Company Limited (CTCL) and Thooimai Mission have announced the launch of Kuppai Thiruvizha 5.0, a 12-day State-wide waste collection drive scheduled to kick-start on Monday (January 12-23), focusing on transforming Tamil Nadu into a zero-waste-to-landfill state.
The Thooimai Mission drive outlined 4 strategic objectives, including behavioural and cultural change, fostering a sense of public responsibility toward source segregation and organised waste management.
Eliminating Garbage Vulnerable Points (GVPs) can be achieved by identifying and clearing chronic littering spots and transforming them into socially useful public spaces. Resource recovery is establishing dedicated collection points for recyclable and reusable materials to ensure waste is diverted back into the economy. Self-Help Groups (SHG) integration focuses on deploying the Mahalir Thooimai Iyakkam to coordinate with local bodies and aggregators to regularise the collection and recovery.
Coinciding with the upcoming harvest festival, the State government has integrated the ‘Pugai Illa Bhogi’ (a smoke-free Bhogi) campaign into the drive. On Bhogi (January 14), traditionally marked by burning old items, Line departments, including Rural Development and Municipal Administration, have been directed to discourage the burning of waste to prevent pollution. They have been told to collect and store discarded items at designated locations and channelise waste through authorised aggregators to ensure zero-waste-to-landfill.
The initiative involves high-level cooperation across the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), Rural Development, and Town Panchayats. To ensure technical efficiency, the CTCL has developed a dedicated dashboard for monitoring, and Nodal Officers from all districts have been mandated to attend training sessions. This platform will be used to track the progress of the drive and ensure real-time accountability.
The Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), a waste calendar, and a Thooimai pledge have been distributed to all local bodies to standardise the implementation of the drive.
The SOP requires the establishment of specific collection points for recyclables, which must be identified and channelled through authorised waste aggregators.
The State government urges citizens to participate by handing over dry and recyclable waste to designated collection centres instead of burning it on Bhogi. By integrating SHGs and Thooimai Circular Collective, the State aims to turn waste into a resource for the benefit of the community.
Local bodies are mandated to identify and clear GVPs, which must be monitored to prevent re-dumping and are intended to be transformed into socially usable spaces.
To support the drive, CTCL has distributed tool kits to local bodies for the implementation packages, detailed SOPs tailored for local bodies, SHGs, and aggregators, waste collection calendars and training schedules.