[CA] Tirunelveli first to have 100% waste segregation

It took barely a few months for Tirunelveli municipality in Tamil Nadu to achieve the feat of achieving 100% segregation of waste at source across households and establishments. It involved taking undertakings from each house hold to segregate biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste, campaigns though TV and local radio channels targeting housewives, and involving religious leaders and NGOs.

The city, with a population of 4.8 lakh, achieved this at a time when other cities are either weighing the risk of failure be fore starting any initiative or are considering imposition of penalty on erring residents. The Tirunelveli model can be easily adopted by other cities.

Tirunelveli, which has about 1.6 lakh households, took up this challenge in April 2016. However, an intensive campaign started only on October 2, taking cue from the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016. The rules make it mandatory for all waste generators to segregate biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste, and hand over the segregated waste to authorised waste pickers collectors.

While biodegradable waste is collected every day, non-bio degradable waste such as plastic is collected every Wednesday.

The collected dry waste is sold to waste recyclers at Rs.2 per kg and the amount is given as reward to waste collectors. The Union urban development ministry conferred an award to Tirunelveli for becoming the first city to achieve 100% segregation of waste at source.