Thanjavur: Smart city plan to have 14 micro compost centres

Thanjavur: The corporation here has taken up the task of creating micro compost centres in 14 places in the city under the 'Smart City' programme, for solid waste management, with a view to decentralise and dispose of solid wastes. The present 28 acres which serves as the only compost yard for the city at Jebamalaipuram, is overflowing with garbage. However, efforts to set up the micro compost centres have run into rough weather in some places.

According to corporation officials, 110 tonnes of solid waste is generated per day. The corporation has taken up earth works to create these micro-compost centres in a few places. But the land which the local body selected a park in Arulananda Nagar, a posh locality, has run into rough weather. Residents of the area have sent a petition to the Chief Minister's cell at Fort St. George and also the District Collector and municipal officials, against setting up the centre in the vicinity, citing various reasons.

Following this, the corporation is toying with the idea of dropping the place and selecting an alternate place. According to social activist and environmentalist, A. John Joseph, the park selected for setting up the micro compost centre at Arulananda Nagar, has High Tension (HT) power lines crossing it. Any kind of construction is prohibited under HT power lines under the provision of the Indian Electricity and Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Acts, John Joseph said.

"We, the residents of this area have sent petitions to the Chief Minister's special cell, district collector and corporation officials," he added. However, work is progressing for the creation of compost centres in other places. For Sundaram Nagar, the centre is to be located at the Shantivan burial ground where a crematorium working on bio-gas is located.

Corporation officials said that these centres are created in 14 places since the city itself is divided into 14 sanitary divisions.

These centres are coming up at a cost of Rs 10.50 crore, and each centre will deal with solid wastes of nearly 4,000 to 5,000 households. Battery-operated green e-vehicles which were pressed into service recently, will collect solid wastes from houses and bring them to these centres. Bio-degradable wastes will be converted into bio-fertilisers and sold. Non-bio-degradable wastes like plastics, leather, textiles, metals and glass will be segregated and sold to cement, pipe making industries and power plants, added the officials.

The corporation is also planning a bio-mining project at the Jebamalaipuram compost yard. Once this is functional and micro compost centres are created, people of Jebamalaipuram area will be relieved as they have been complaining of pollution and frequent fires that cloud their area with smoke.

While there is opposition in some areas, to the micro compost centres, there are many who support it. V. Ganpathy, member, state-level committee on sanitation, dealing with solid and liquid waste management and also menstrual hygiene management, (nominated by the High Court of Madras), said that neighbouring Tiruchy corporation has 32 micro-compost centers.

There was opposition when the Tiruchy corporation started its program three years ago. But persistent awareness programs by committed officials in close cooperation with NGOs and residential associations ensured that people accepted it as the only solution to make the city clean and green, and solve the garbage problem. The city generates 540 tons of garbage every day. Thanjavur is much smaller in size, and the earlier they started the segregation process, the better, he added.