HYDERABAD: MA&UD minister K.T. Rama Rao, on the occasion of World Environment Day on Monday, called on the public to follow the RRR (reduce, reuse and recycle) mantra and urged MSMEs and start-ups to connect with recycling centres.
Inaugurating ReThink, a 3R knowledge hub, and an environmental surveillance lab on the premises of the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), the minister said: “ReThink is an initiative of ASCI and MA&UD to connect 3R centres in towns with recyclers, MSMEs and start-ups. It aims to accelerate circularity in waste management and prevent plastic waste from reaching landfills or water bodies.”
On the occasion, Rama Rao said that an MoU has been signed among HMWS&SB, Prof. Jayashankar Agriculture University of Telangana, Indian Institute of Rice Research, Sustainable India Trust and Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi, for a study on extraction of nutrients from the by-products of STPs (sewage treatment plants) and initiate measures to reduce carbon footprint in STP operations.
The minister said 1,962 3R centres were set up by 142 urban local bodies to collect used products, such as used plastic items, old books, clothes and footwear. “Over 200 MT of used items were already collected at these centres from May 20 to date and the products would be refurbished, reused or remade into new products,” he said.
Rama Rao also announced that every Saturday will be observed as ‘RRR Day’, for officials of each municipality to discuss progress on waste reuse and recycling.
He said the measures were important as, despite Hyderabad being the most liveable city in India, it ranked 142 globally.
Rama Rao said that to improve liveability, initiatives of waste treatment, solar roofing, dry resource collection, faecal sludge treatment, bio-mining of legacy waste, plastic waste management, waste-to-energy generation, construction and demolition waste management are being taken.
The minister pointed out that Telangana ranked second in the country for solar energy generation, having up-scaled from 74 MW in 2014 to 5,000 MW at present.
The minister, appealing to citizens to take part in government initiatives en masse, said that a Hyderabad Habitat Centre, on the lines of the India Habitat Centre in Delhi, will be set up in Khanamet for think tanks to meet and work on future innovation plans.
Rama Rao also took a cue from European cities and said that a regulation will be implemented for mandatory recycling and reuse of wastewater and dual piping systems for promoting net water neutrality at residential high-rises and commercial buildings.
