A 3-Phase Plan to Make Nilgiris Zero Waste To Landfill over the next 5 years.
Based on the Coonoor Model and its success, the organisation and the administration plan to emulate the same in other parts of the district.
Why?
- Mismanaged Waste is a Disaster on all Fronts and not confined to Coonoor alone.
- The Nilgiris and the associated chain of mountains, The Western Ghats, are Biodiversity Hotspots.
- Mismanaged Waste here and elsewhere in this mountain chain, is bound to have both short and long term deleterious consequences on this fragile ecosystem.
- The health of the rivers which flow through the plains of Peninsular India, is entirely dependent on the health of this eco-sensitive mountain chain.
Project Failures
Pile-ups at Waste Treatment Plants
Emissions
Global Warming
Leachate
Contamination of water sources
Exposed Dumpsites
Human Wildlife Conflict
Unsealed Landfills
Plastic Pollution
How & When?
Phase 1: FY 2024-25
Financial breakeven in the existing Unit with one-tine viability gap funding.
Phase 2: FY 2025-26
Collaborate with contiguous local bodies and explore possibilities to transport and process the waste generated here, at the existing facility. This phase will need strong political and administrative commitment, for such a measure will need policy level decisions at state and district level. If it attains fruition, the move will help in preventing much more waste from being mismanaged, and the next logical step will be to double the processing capacity of the existing facility which currently stands at 13 MT per day of both dry and wet.
Phase 3: FYs 2026-27 & 2027-28
Identify and establish decentralised common waste management facilities throughout the district which are run along similar lines. In addition to political and administrative commitment, such a enterprise will need community mobilisation, partnerships with like-minded organisations, and, development of standardised but flexible operating procedures and monitoring indices. If this phase can be successfully implemented, it can be assumed that the major portion of the waste generated within this eco-sensitive district will be scientifically and safely managed.