Source segregation and garbage chutes at cross purposes: Experts

For residents of Sathyavani Muthu Nagar on St Mary’s Road, garbage disposal has been an arduous task. While they have a garbage chute for each block, the mix of wet and dry waste sits in a pile till the conservancy workers clean it up. Residents here complain of foul odour, mosquitoes and resultant diseases.

Ganga Sridhar, a resident of Mandaveli and member of the core committee of Sustainable Waste Management People’s Forum, recently visited the area to find out more about the issue.

“When we went and surveyed the place for the effects of the chute, we were shocked to see the unhygienic conditions caused by the mixed garbage. The worst part is that the conservancy workers have to rummage through the waste that contains plastic waste along with fish, sanitary napkins and other waste being generated at the homes. This is negating the whole idea of Swachch Bharat and source segregation,” she said.

Poorna Sriram, a resident of Saradapuram in Mylapore, said that the worst part is leachate on the road from the garbage. “Around 150 families stay there, and the residents of the ground floor suffer the most as they are near the landing of the chutes. People from nearby neighbourhoods, too, bear the brunt as it is a breeding ground for mosquitoes and flies,” she said.

Ganga added that builders have to foresee the problems of the chute system. She said, “High rise apartments have space to build a composting unit. We see a number of apartments in and around Mylapore and Mandaveli coming up with chutes. Builders and architects must realise that the chutes are destroying the purpose of source segregation that everyone from the government to waste management experts are promoting.”

A couple of apartments have already shut down the facility, looking at the difficulties they come with, pointed out I Priyadharshini, founder, Wastewinn Foundation, that implements source segregation concepts in apartments.

“Door to door collection works the best. While clients find the convenience of chutes tempting, they have realised that it is not going to help the bigger cause. In a big flat complex, the resultant mix without source segregation is going to be a nightmare to handle. We have seen people discarding half lit cigarettes into the chutes, causing a fire. It is going to be difficult to track the defaulters in such cases, especially when you are trying to create a behavioural shift.”

However, S D Venkatesh, head of Ramky Enviro Engineers, in charge of waste management in the city, said that they have been convincing people to shift to composting, seeing the disadvantages of chutes. “It will take some time, but they seem to be keen on it after realising its benefits.”