815 villages process solid waste in Krishna

VIJAYAWADA: Solid waste processing centres which are also called solid wealth processing centres are set to turn villages into clean and green places as SWPC will use the waste keeping the villages free from garbage heaps.

The state government is gearing up to make every village in the Krishna district a revenue-generating one and infectious diseases-free, by constructing SWPCs, under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

The state government has constructed as many as 815 SWPCs in 815 villages, of the total 970 gram panchayats in Krishna district, spending Rs 31.56 crore.
The government is gearing up to build 81 SWPCs in 81 villages at a cost of Rs 50.43 lakh to make Krishna district the cleanest in the state.

Krishna district panchayat officer R. Victor said that every village panchayat secretary will appoint a green ambassador to collect wet and dry waste through tricycle from households to the processing centres to make organic fertilizers from wet and dry waste.  

Red and yellow colour dustbins have been distributed to the people in villages and people are using red dustbins for dry waste at home and yellow for wet waste.

Mr Victor said that the state government is purchasing dung from farmers at Rs 10 a kg to make organic fertilizers at SWPC. The dung, wet and dry waste will be used to make organic fertilizers. Later, the processing centres would sell the organic fertilizers to farmers practising the Zero Budget Natural Farming method in their fields. 

He said that it would take nearly 40-45 days to manufacture organic fertilizers from cattle dung, wet and dry waste.  

Movva village panchayat secretary J. Rajendra Prasad said that their panchayat was collecting nearly 300 kg waste from households, including dung, to prepare organic fertilizers and that the panchayat was earning Rs 1.5 to Rs 2 lakh per annum by selling it to farmers and others.

He said that Movva mandal agriculture department officials were also explaining about the advantages of using organic fertilizers in the fields to farmers. The SWPCs are useful to all the villages as they help generate income and at the same time, keep the surroundings clean to prevent incidence of seasonal diseases.

Further, the villages need not depend on state or central government for small funds. Mr Rajendra Prasad said that the number of villagers visiting hospitals due to illnesses has come down after setting up of the waste processing centres in the villages.