Delhi’s sanitation staff off on strike, yet again

A bulk of the 57,000 strong sanitation work-force affiliated to 27 safai karamchari unions stayed away from work demanding timely release of salaries, payment of arrears and regularization of contract staff. The strike call affected garbage clearance across all three Corporations of Delhi – East, North and South – jeopardizing the special sanitation drive to be launched in the capital. Sanitation workers in the capital went on strike few months back demanding the same.  

 

Malleswaram resident Vani Murthy has embarked upon a project to get 10 lakh Bangaloreans to take a pledge of refraining from sending out organic waste from their houses for a week and compost it instead. The entire exercise is aimed at getting people to realize that source segregation of garbage is not as difficult as it sounds. ‘Swachagraha’ as it is aptly named will be launched next month.

 

Nagpur Municipal Corporation plans to make its sewage treatment plant viable by channeling the treated water to thermal power plants in the city. A deal to supply treated water to Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Limited (MAHAGENCO) was inked seven years ago and a similar arrangement will now be made with NTPC as well. Nagpur’s proposed 200 million litres per day (MLD) treatment plant is expected to cost the Corporation nearly Rs 32 crore per annum and the sale of treated water is seen as a good way to finance the deal. 

 

Chennai Metrowater has embarked on a drive to identify commercial and water-intensive that are yet to construct chambers to filter out solid waste before letting the sewage out of their premises. Establishments that do not abide by the rules risk getting their water and sewer connections severed. Solid wastes are often found to block the flow of sewage in city sewer lines and clog up the system leading to overflow.

 

The Karnataka state government has banned the sale of plastics with a thickness of 40 microns or less within its jurisdiction in a bid to dissuade the unsustainable manufacture of harmful plastic. The ban is expected to affect nearly 450 manufacturers across the state. Although a ban on the sale and use of such plastics already exists in ten Corporations across the state, the regulation remains lax. 

 

The main Buddhist monastery in the tourist town of McLeodganj has come up with a novel way to keep its streets clean. A dedicated squad of ‘garbage guards’ will now patrol the streets to ensure that there is no littering. 

 

Taking cognizance of the illegal dumping of construction debris into the Buckingham Canal, the Southern bench of the National Green Tribunal has restrained two developers in Chennai from doing the same in the southern suburbs of the city. The entire fiasco arose as a result of negligence on the part of the Corporation planning authorities who granted approval without inspecting the project site.