Municipal
As part of its commitment to Solid Waste Management, Clean Coonoor has taken upon itself, the responsibility of converting the Municipal Dump Yard into a Waste Management Park.
Prior to intervention, the Municipal Dump presented itself as a reeking disgrace, strewn about with the accumulated refuse and filth of some six decades.
The first challenge was to give this much stigmatised and shunned region, a veneer of dignity, and hence the idea of a ‘Park’ in the true sense.
Clean Coonoor set about landscaping the region with the silt excavated during its river cleanups, laying trim lawns, flowerbeds, shrubberies and such, and over a period of five months succeeded in transforming this area into a park with a grand view.
The next challenge was to prevent further accumulation of garbage, and to this effect the facility has been provided with a baler to deal with rubbish that can be conveniently baled and stored prior to being disposed, and a ‘no fuel incinerator’ to deal with sanitary napkins, diapers, rags and such.
To get rid of the stench emanating from the shallow pits where fish and poultry waste are being buried, a waste shredding machine and a compost bin have been procured, and an initial trail has shown promising results.
The facility was inaugurated as a revamped and refurbished Waste Management Park capable of processing and disposing the entire trash generated in the town, by the District Collector Ms Innocent Divya on 30 October 2019.
Over a couple years the total tonnage of waste has tripled from an average of 1.5 tonne a day to nearly 4 tonnes. The ultimate objective would be to bring up the average to 5 tonnes which is the quantum calculated based on the town’s populace.
As on August 2021 the facility has managed to handle and sort, about 2,000 tonnes of municipal dry waste. Around 700 tonnes of designated recyclable materials have been recovered, bulked, stored and transported to their respective recycling units, and the rest have been disposed as per TNPCB norms.
The facility has been visited by the Chairperson, State Monitoring Committee of the National Green Tribunal for Solid Waste Management in Tamil Nadu, the Honourable Justice Dr. P. Jyothimani, who was quite appreciative about its mode of functioning. It also serves as a model for other local bodies and organisations involved in waste management, both within the State and outside the country.
To further help in de-stigmatising the waste management facility and change the way about people think about garbage disposal and help in ensuring that our waste does not make it into ecological sensitive areas such as forests, planting of flowering summer annuals was also undertaken with eye-catching results
Clean Coonoor with the active help of the Coonoor Municipal Corporation, hopes to further improve the sanitation front, by working towards a substantial reduction in waste generated, and better segregation of the same at source.
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Rural
As a first step towards rural expansion a Rural-Waste Management Unit made functional at the village of Halakkarai catering to a population of around 5000.
The personnel manning this centres will as well double up as litter patrollers appointed to monitor and keep clean the Bandishola – Halacarai Road which is prone to dumping
The expenses for running this unit will be meted out from the garbage collection fee levied from the nearby gated communities.
Clean Coonoor will be shortly opening two more such centres in the villages of Yedapalli & Hubbathalai which will be run along the same lines.