Solid waste management project for Rameswaram.

In line with its commitment towards clean environment and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the public sector Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has launched a mega solid waste management project in this island on an outlay of Rs. 68 lakh.

Minister for Sports and Youth Welfare S. Sundararaj inaugurated the project in the presence of Collector S. Natarajan and ONGC Executive Director -Asset Manager (Cauvery Asset) S.C. Singh here on Wednesday. The project was jointly implemented by the ONGC, Rameswaram Municipality and ‘Hand in Hand’, a non-governmental organisation.

The project would benefit 3,000 households in four wards and provide employment to 24 ‘Green friends’ and seven managerial staff, who would be engaged in collecting waste from door to door for processing, Mr. Singh said.

Under the project, decentralised composting facility would be constructed and vehicles would be procured for collecting waste, and dustbins and bags would be provided to the residents to segregate waste at source, he said.

The ONGC would bear the recurring expenses for six months and later hand over the project to the local municipality, he added.

The municipality would be helped in capacity building and establishing a system for solid waste management, R.K. Khanna, Executive Director-Basin Manager, Cauvery, said.

Mr. Sundararaj said that the project would help improve local environment, protect the pilgrim island from air, soil and water pollution and boost tourism. Municipal Chairman A. Arjunan, Commissioner K. Jayarama Raja and Hand in Hand Chairman and Managing Trustee Kalapana Sankar were also present.

THE HINDU