Solid waste management initiatives yielding good results in Anantapur

Anantapur: Solid waste management project under 'Swachh Anantapur' is under implementation in all the 1,000 odd panchayats in 63 mandals in the district.

The panchayats had launched the scheme under 'Swachh Bharat' programme and were collecting the refuse and garbage from every house. Tonnes of garbage is collected by the panchayat workers by cycle rickshaw mounted garbage bins and brought to the vermicompost yards where the garbage is segregated into the dry, wet and plastic garbage.

The wet and dry garbage are transferred into vermicompost pits and processed into organic manure. The collected garbage will be processed for the garbage to graduate into organic manure. Gotlur panchayath is the first to launch the solid waste management programme. Gotlur Sarpanch Shivaiah told The Hans India that the scheme devised by the panchayat was aimed at boosting the financial position of the panchayat and earn extra revenue for the panchayat to undertake developmental programmes.

The programme was also contributed to a cleaner environment and good health to the people. Machines to compress plastic and other metals into a condensed form is being procured by all the panchayats so that the plastic and metallic garbage can be exported in condensed form.

Assistant Project Director Lavanya Kumari of Tadipatri division told The Hans India that 67 gram panchayats out of 104 spread in five mandals in Hindupur division have already launched the solid waste management project under which garbage is being collected from every house hold in each panchayath and segregated into dry, wet and plastic.

Compost yards are being built and organic manure is being produced out of tonnes of wet waste. Vermi compost yards have been built in 12 panchayats and organic manure is being produced and sold to farmers at Rs 10 a kg. The manure sales are giving additional income to the panchayats.

Pulla Reddy, Assistant Project director, DWAMA, who is heading the Hindupur division said that five mandals had already launched the programme under Swachh Bharat which included building of latrines under the ODF scheme and solid waste management techniques under ODF plus programme.

As many as 140 solid waste management programmes had been taken up with an investment of Rs 5.43 crore. The idea is not only to generate additional income for panchayats but also to create a disease-free villages and clean and green environment for the locals. All the 1,000 odd panchayats are poised to implement the waste disposal scheme as well as produce organic manure.