Dry Waste Collection Centres In Salem To Boost Waste Segregation In The City

New Delhi: With little over a week left for 2017 to end, municipal corporations across India are busy ensuring that the year ends on a positive note for both the municipal corporation, as well as its citizens. The beginning of 2018 will also see Swachh Survekshan 2018 taking place from 4th January onwards, the annual ranking of cities based on cleanliness. As a mammoth 4,041 cities are participating in next year’s Swachh Survekshan, urban civic bodies are taking up several initiatives to ensure a better 2018 for citizens.

In a similar effort, Salem Municipal Corporation in Tamil Nadu has set up dry waste collection centres across the city. Under the first phase of the programme, a dry waste collection centre was set up in Ward 14 in Hasthampatti. Three more such centres will become operational by the end of the year.

Salem ranked a moderately low 135th in the Swachh Survekshan 2017 rankings. The absence of waste segregation among the residents of Salem was one of the primary reasons why the city secured such a low rank in the Survekshan. To ensure that the city improves upon its existing rank of 135, the municipal corporation came forward with the idea of installing dry waste collection centres where collected dry waste will be deposited. The city generates approximately 350 to 400 tonnes of waste daily of which roughly 40 per cent is estimated to be dry waste.

The Salem Municipal Corporation has spent considerable time and effort to popularise waste segregation among the citizens of Salem, though segregation has caught up only partially among the citizens of Salem. In a revised press release which announced the opening of the dry waste collection centres, the civic body also requested the citizens to segregate dry and wet waste, before they are collected by garbage collectors.

One of the major problems Salem has faced over the last few years is unsegregated waste being disposed indiscriminately, which resulted in clogged drains during monsoons. In the event arranged to announce the opening of dry waste centres, it was announced that workers affiliated to the municipal corporation would visit residential areas every Wednesday to collect dry waste. The waste will then be deposited in the dry waste collection centres.

We request the residents to segregate dry waste at their homes. All they need to do is to segregate the waste and hand it over to the waste collection agent every Wednesday, who will deposit it in the waste collection centre. We hope that this will curb the city’s waste problem and help us secure a better rank in the upcoming Swachh Survekshan, said R. Sadheesh, Commissioner, Salem Municipal Corporation.

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