Moodbidri Municipality shows the way

Jain Kashi has succeeded to manage solid waste efficiently

Solid waste disposal has been a perennial problem every local self government institution faces, right from gram panchayat to Corporation.

Starting from segregation of garbage from the source itself to taking action against the erring commercial establishments and households is a long enduring process failing which the whole project may prove futile.

Moodbidri Municipal town council here shows an emulating way in solid waste management by strictly implementing the scheme and imposing penalty on the erring without fear or favour.

It was in April 2012, under the leadership of the Chief Officer of the Municipality, Rayappa, Moodbidri Municipality decided to do away with the system of collecting waste once in a week from the concrete bins put up in the town. Instead, they opted for door-to-door waste collection with the help of self help groups.

Before the programme was initiated, a widespread awareness campaign was conducted. People and commercial establishments were asked to segregate waste from the source itself and keep it in two covers as degradable and non-degradable waste.

Self help group members would collect waste from 9,000 households and 2,400 commercial establishments in the Municipal limits reaching them in goods autos and tractors. Barring Sundays, waste is collected everyday between 8 am and 5 pm, with an average 15 tonne everyday.

Waste is not 'waste'

''Out of the 15 tonne of garbage we collect daily, 5 tonne will be non-degradable. Plastic bottles and other non-degradable items were given to scrap dealers for re-cycling.

Once in two days, 5 tonne non-degradable waste is sold to Mangalore City Corporation on a cost of Rs 250 per tonne,” explains Municipality Chief Officer Rayappa, who has been instrumental in the successful implementation of the programme. Wet waste of the degradable garbage was given to the farm of well-known progressive farmer of Moodbidri, L C Soans.

Around 6 to 8 tonnes of degradable waste is being given to Soans farm daily. Workers at Soans Farm convert the waste into organic manure and use in the farm which consists of around 100 acres. ''Now there is no problem of waste management in Moodbidri. We convert the waste to compost and use it as manure,'' says L C Soans.

As there is no slaughter house in Municipal limits and the number of non-vegetarian consuming people is very less, the quantity of non-veg waste is much less. Rayappa says that the Municipality daily collects only 5 to 10 kg of non-veg waste and it is used to fill Municipal land at Jyothinagar, mixing with soil. For the 25 apartments in the city, each has set up three waste bins to collect garbage.

Strict action against  non-compliance

''For collecting waste, Rs 30 will be charged from every household and between Rs 50 to Rs 200 from commercial establishments according to their category on a monthly basis,” said Rayappa. In this manner, on an average, Rs 1.75 lakh reach the hands of self help groups. This amount is spent on SHG members salary, maintenance of four vehicles and towards the loan payment of vehicles.

If anyone throws waste in public place or fail to pay the monthly charges, SHG members will at once alert Chief Officer and he will issue notice followed by imposing penalty according to the Karnataka Municipal Act 1964 (Section 224, 263, 276). Rayappa added that many a times commercial establishments defaulted on payment but when they were met with strict measures compliance of rule was gradually followed.

Since April 2012 to August 2013, an amount of Rs 8,450 was charged as penalty in seven cases for non payment of monthly charges or as fine for dumping waste in public places. A sum of Rs 225 is the fine imposed to household whereas it ranges from Rs 2,000-5,000 for commercial establishments.

People speak

A L Vas, a grocery shop keeper at Moodbidri Market said that the garbage disposal programme is now showing results only because authorities are strictly implementing it.

He adds that unlike in many places where people and shops keep the segregated waste, in Moodbidri, SHG members are carrying the waste as degradable and non-degradable. Zaira, a homemaker told that she has no complaint regarding waste management.

“SHG members come everyday and collect segregated waste and put them into the separate gunny bags kept in either side of the tractor,” she said.