The Tirunelveli Corporation, with the total score of 2,780, has bagged the second place in Tamil Nadu and got the all-India ranking of 159 in the world’s largest cleanliness survey of ‘Swachh Survekshan 2020’ for having put in place credible waste management system to ensure cleanliness in the city.
With the score of 3,360.47, Tiruchi Corporation has bagged the first place in Tamil Nadu and got the all-India ranking of 102. A total of 4,242 cities, having the population below 10 lakh, across the country were covered for this survey.
Tirunelveli City, with a total area of 108.65 square km, houses 1,81,488 households with the population of 5,13,284 (it was 4,78,236 in 2011). The city, housing just over 5 lakh population generates 170 tonnes of garbage, including 102 tonnes of degradable waste and 68 tonnes of non-degradable garbage everyday. Of this, 22 tonnes of solid waste is being generated by 97 bulk waste generators in the city.
Since source segregation of degradable and non-degradable wastes is mandatory in Tirunelveli Corporation, the waste is being collected separately by 270 battery operated vehicles deployed in all four zones of the Corporation.
“Since a section of the residents, despite the source segregation of waste put in place in the Corporation, has nurtured the habit of packing both degradable and non-degradable waste getting generated in their house in one bag and put it in the bins, garbage bins in these areas were identified and removed to inculcate the habit of source segregation. Now, we have kept the garbage bins only in select areas based on the needs,” says G. Kannan, Commissioner of Tirunelveli Corporation.
In Tirunelveli Corporation, 1,335 sanitary workers, including 358 permanent workers, 744 sanitary workers affiliated to self-help groups, 233 outsourced sanitary workers have been deployed to collect the garbage from the houses, from the streets and send it to the garbage dump at Ramaiyanpatti either to the micro compost centres concerned through 4 compactors, 6 dumper placers, 13 tipper lorries, a tractor, two lorries, a light commercial vehicle apart from the 270 battery operated vehicles.
After collecting the 102 tonnes of degradable waste, 35 tonnes are being taken to the micro composting centres where it is converted into manure to be given to the public while 5 tonnes of degradable is taken to the bio-methanation plant and 40 tonnes to the Ramaiyanpatti compost yard. The remaining 22 tonnes being generated by the bulk waste generators have been told to establish their own solid waste management system.
The 68 tonnes of solid waste, mostly plastic waste, is being sent to the recyclers and also to the cement factory nearby where it is being used as supplementary fuel or the fuel derived from the refuse. The women self-help groups involved in shredding the plastic waste into granules give it at the rate of ₹ 30 per kg for road laying.
“The city, having 62 hospitals, has put in place an appropriate biomedical waste management system through a private firm. While a few clinical laboratories and dental clinics are yet to get the approval, appropriate instructions have been given to them to put in place a credible biomedical waste management system,” says Dr. Saroja, City Health Officer.
Even though every household is being told to construct toilets in their houses, the Corporation has built 198 toilets, including 169 community toilets and 29 public toilets to avoid open defecation.
“All these efforts have collectively fetched us good ranking… but we, under the guidance of the District Collector, are in the process of identifying the areas where we can improve our operations further. We firmly believe that Tirunelveli Corporation can be taken within the first 50 clean cities of the country by further strengthening our cleaning operations,” Mr. Kannan said.
