Decentralised waste management in three zones

To reduce the quantum of waste dumped at the city’s dump yards, a high-power committee of the Greater Chennai Corporation has decided to decentralise by setting up 19 compost yards, 7 biogas plants and 18 resource recovery centres in these three zones.

For this, Rs 10.05 crore has been allocated under Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). A senior Corporation official said, “The infrastructure will be set up depending on the requirements of the wards. 

The committee has allocated funds to set up compost yards, bio gas plants and resource recovery centres, where plastic waste will be used for recycling. The funds will also be used to build a compound wall for Athipet transfer station. 

The project will be executed by the zonal departments.” The Corporation started experimenting with the decentralised model at Manali in 2016, first experimenting at a divisional level before extending it to seven wards in the zone. 

“We have two compost yards and seven resource recovery centres to deal with the plastic waste. Out of the 55 tonnes of waste generated per day, 35 tonnes are disposed at the ward level, while the remaining is sent to Kodungaiyur dump yard. We are trying to find recyclers for many of the non-biodegradable objects,” said a zonal official, adding that the compost generated is distributed free of cost to farmers. 

The model was adapted in the neighbouring zone, Madhavaram, which has two large compost yards. The city has been struggling to deal with the garbage it generates every day, over half of which is wet, organic waste that rapidly deteriorates into a putrid mass even before it reaches the massive dump yards. 

Many residents who have been trying to get their neighbourhoods to go zero-waste said they were hampered by the lack of stringent implementation of source segregation. “Residents are willing to segregate; they just need that push,” said MRC Nagar resident, Asha Muralidharan.