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 With a population of around nine million, Chennai has quite a few problems in the
management of solid waste, thrown up in enormous quantities and that on a daily basis.
After struggling for a number of years with inadequate equipment and poorly trained
personnel, the Chennai Municipal Administration has now seriously begun to explore fresh
methods of tackling the problem, including the privatisation of waste management.
The city is studying a complete shift in the method of garbage
removal, according to the Secretary for Municipal Administration and Water Supply, Ms. S.
Malathy who kicked off a seminar on the subject on Wednesday. A direct garbage collection
system is to be introduced, wherein each house will be provided with bags, she said adding
that the regular collection of these bags would bypass the entire process currently in
use, she pointed out. The city administration was also thinking of slapping a
cess-type
charge on organisations like kalyana mandapams, hotels, lodges, etc., she said pointing
out that some hotels disgorge over half-a-ton of garbage every day.
The two-day seminar was co-hosted by the World Bank, the
National Institute of Urban Affairs and the Tamil Nadu state government and there were
delegates from all over the State, mostly from urban local bodies. Day two, Thursday, was
more rewarding with delegates deciding upon an ‘Action Plan.’ The day also saw
Mr. K N Venkataramanan, Project Director of the TNUDP-II, presenting a report detailing
the recommendations of a Supreme Court appointed committee. Delegates, mostly from urban
local bodies and other municipalities, also participated in a workshop and then split up
to form four working groups to help formulate an ‘Action Plan’ for the
management of solid waste.
 These groups deliberated upon covered areas such as - improved institutional
arrangements for service delivery, planning tools: management information systems,
budgeting & accounting systems, staffing plans and analysis of collection, recycling
& disposal options as well as service standards, user fees, public awareness, the
present regulatory framework and enforcement mechanisms. The final ‘Action Plan’
will be adapted to fit the unique needs of individual municipalities, Mr Venkataramanan
told Chennai Online.
Citizens of Chennai may find that the seminar has given
them reason to rejoice. Delegates also pondered the best way to privatise the entire
system of the city’s solid waste management. Cities like Tiruppur and Coimbatore have
already shown the way, having signed memoranda of understanding with private outfits.
Whichever private company picks up the contract will do so on a Build, Operate and
Transfer (B.O.T) basis with the city providing land for the establishment of a waste
management plant. Normally, companies which opt for waste management convert the
city’s solid waste into organic manure through bio-conversion and then retail it.
The city’s coffers would thus get a pretty decent
booster, apart from the economies inherent in closing down the wasteful sewage department.
Chennai has already begun discussions with the World Bank, HUDCO and other institutions to
raise the funds necessary for kicking off the project. In fact, the World Bank officials
who participated in the seminar gave Chennai and other municipality officials an idea on
how other cities, especially from the third world, have fared.
Ravichandran K
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