Telangana: Kothagudem Municipality excels in solid waste management

The municipal officials who laid focus on proper segregation of wet and dry waste have achieved 60 to 70 percent efficiency in terms of segregation of household waste

Kothagudem: Kothagudem Municipality has been excelling in solid waste management and winning awards for its cleanliness drive. The municipal officials who laid focus on proper segregation of wet and dry waste have achieved 60 to 70 percent efficiency in terms of segregation of household waste. The door to door collection of waste through Swachh Autos has eliminated the need for garbage bins in the town.

Municipal chairperson Kapu Seethalakshni has taken the initiative to set up a dry resource collection centre (DRCC) and vermi-compost collection centre (VRCC) in the town spending Rs 2 crore. The wet waste is being used to produce manure. Vermi-compost produced at the VRCC is being used to nourish the saplings planted in the town as part Haritha Haram and distributed to the citizens free of cost for use at their households, the chairperson said. In a day around 30 tonnes of waste is collected in the town.

---

Speaking to Telangana Today, Seethalakshmi, who recently received State level award for best sanitation and solid waste management from MA&UD Minister KT Rama Rao, informed that all the municipal councillors were made aware of segregation of wet, dry and hazardous waste. The councillors in turn educated households in their respective municipal wards about the importance of wet and dry waste segregation. The efforts have paid off as the residents in 36 wards in the town segregate wet and dry waste in colour-coded bins, she said.

In addition, the municipality has tied with ITC’s well-being out of waste (WoW), the company’s corporate social responsibility initiative, to process dry waste. Plastic bottles, bags and others are bundled using a baling machine and sent to Hyderabad for recycling. In a day around one tonne of plastic waste is collected in the town. Harmful waste like damaged chemicals, electrical gadgets, diapers and others are burned scientifically using an incinerator, ash thus produced used to make bricks, WoW coordinator Pasam Ravi informed.