Mangalore, Oct 10 (The Hindu): Mangalore City Corporation will start paying people who gather their plastic and glass waste and bring them to recycling centres which are to be set up soon.
Deputy Commissioner V. Ponnuraj said this on the sidelines of a function to launch ‘Nirmala Nagara Abhayana' the cleanliness jatha here on Saturday. It is being undertaken by Sri Ramakrishna College.
Mr. Ponnnuraj said the solid waste collected and brought by citizens to the recycling centres would be paid based on the weight of the refuse, which in turn would be sold to recyclers for a consideration. The corporation would first invest and then recover the value of waste from the recyclers, he said. The corporation would not be looking for profit and would continue to collect glass and plastic waste even if it incurred losses keeping the cause of waste disposal in mind. Mr. Ponnuraj said door-to-door collection of garbage would be made compulsory once the new three-package system was implemented in the city.
Ban on Plastics
He said the centre was about to amend the relevant laws to ban use and sale of plastic of thickness of 40 microns — that is the size of Nandini milk pouch. He said this would be strictly implemented in the district.
Mr. Ponnuraj said the so-called scientific dumping yard at Pachchanadi had failed because it was designed for a mere 120 tonnes of waste a day whereas the city generated much more than that. The present plan was to handle 200 tonnes a day. Construction of an additional scientific dumping yard was in progress, he said.
Earlier, he praised the people of Mangalore who always liked to keep their premises clean. He said they should have similar attitude towards cleanliness outside their premises as well. He urged the students participating in the jatha to ensure that they and their families participated actively in the door-to-door collection of garbage when implemented. He asked the students to make video clippings on their mobile phones of people violating the solid waste disposal rules and pass them on to the authorities so that the guilty could be punished.
Naveen Shetty K., principal of the college, said the jatha was aimed at creating awareness about throwing plastic sachets, plastic bags, cigarette butts and spitting on the roads. The students — some of them wearing hand gloves and armed with bags – collected plastic sachets, bags and papers dumped on the roads. The jatha passed through Jyothi Circle, Hampanakatta, State Bank Circle, and Central Market before coming back to Bunts Hostel Circle.