With Mysuru not able to make it as the country’s cleanest cities in the recent surveys, as other Indian cities have overtaken it topping the list of ‘Swachh’ cities under the Swachh Bharat Mission, the officers of the Mysore City Corporation have been asked to lay emphasis on the cleanliness, and focus on reclaiming the lost recognition as the cleanest city in the coming years.
“Heaps of trash are found on the roadsides. This has been causing inconvenience to the public and posing a health hazard besides spoiling the surrounding environs. The source from where the trash was generated and found littered on the roads needs to be found and tackled,” said Deputy Commissioner K.V. Rajendra.
At a meeting here on streamlining solid waste management here, he said the MCC has to lay importance on freeing the city from the plastic wastes and added that the support of the public to the MCC was key in making it possible.
Replicate Ambikapur model
Dr. Rajendra advised the MCC to replicate the model adopted at Ambikapur in Chhattisgarh for handling the plastic waste menace effectively. The unique project can be adopted in the city for addressing the plastic menace, he felt.
Stating that Mysuru can be made a plastic-free city, he said the plastic use has continued despite efforts to prevent its use by taking up various awareness drives. Ahead of the Dasara festivities this year, a drive has to be taken up for cleaning the city and clearing all trash from the roadsides before tourists start arriving here. This can prevent embarrassment.
MCC Commissioner N.N. Madhu, MUDA Commissioner Dinesh and others were present.
In January this year, the Swachh Survekshan ranks were announced and Mysuru, which used to be ranked nationally within the top five clean cities, was ranked 23rd in the country. This was the lowest-ever ranking under the survey and the authorities blamed the legacy waste for the city’s swachh position being threatened, and continues to pose a serious challenge in the coming years. A legacy waste of nearly four lakh tons has accumulated over the years here which needs to be recycled.
Incidentally, Mysuru’s role in handling plastic waste has been praised nationally as the MCC had become the first urban local body in Karnataka to earn an Extended Producers’ Responsibility (EPR) certificate for Category-III plastic waste and second in the country to earn the EPR certificate, after Indore in Madhya Pradesh. The MCC earned the EPR certificate for recycling 11 metric tonnes of plastic waste (packaging plastic waste). The waste was recycled into paver tiles, benches and so on. The MCC joined hands with a private player for reusing single-use plastic, and has been into the making of reusable goods since the last three years.
Also, the MCC has constituted a dedicated team to facilitate the weddings and other events going the ‘green’ way, to address plastic menace. Whoever conducts the green wedding, shunning plastic use, and reducing bulk waste generation, is awarded with a ‘Green Wedding Certificate’, certifying their “environment-friendly” initiative, which is handed over to the newly-married couple acknowledging their concern. Despite MCC’s measures, the city’s Swachh image was under threat, with single-use plastic usage continuing despite the ban.
