Comprehensive waste management plan to come up in Ooty.

A comprehensive waste management plan to eliminate dumping of garbage within the Udhagamandalam Municipality limits is to be put in place soon. If such a plan were to be successfully implemented, it is hoped that most of the garbage gets treated or recycled.

The Theetukal dump yard, where most of the waste generated within the town is dumped, is to get a solid waste management plant, to be constructed at a cost of Rs. 3.07 crore with funds from the Centre, State and local body under the Swachh Bharat Mission.

Ten autorickshaws and push carts would be be purchased for door-to-door collection of waste from private households. “The waste will be segregated at the source and plastic will be shredded at Khandal, while around 30 tonnes of waste every day can be processed at the solid waste management facility in Theetukal,” said V. Prabhakaran, Health Officer and Commissioner (in-charge), Udhagamandalam Municipality. A trial run had already been conducted on the plastic shredding machine.

Moreover, vegetable, fruit and animal waste, generated across the town, especially in the Municipal Market, can be processed at the bio-methanisation plant, which is to come up at Khandal at a cost of Rs. 1.1 crore. Around five tonnes of organic waste can be processed and the methane produced from the process can power two of the eight electric motors at the sewage treatment facility, said S Anitha, Assistant Engineer (Udhagamandalam Municipality).

The municipality would also hold talks with hotel owners regarding the rules on waste management. “If any commercial establishment produces more than 100 kg. of waste a day, the rule is that they will have to manage the waste themselves,” said Mr. Prabhakaran.

“We will urge the establishments to set up the facilities or face action,” he added.

The UMC expects the present capacity of waste generated within the town to be able to comfortably be processed and recycled with the comprehensive management scheme, once it is fully operational in the coming months.

THE HINDU