VIJAYAWADA: Despite opposition by apartment owners to the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation’s decision to categorise them as Bulk Waste Generators (BWGs), public health officials have started providing them home composting kits.
The VMC officials are also making the residents aware of the home composting procedure and techniques for maintaining the onsite composting units on their premises.
Following the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules 2016, which mandate the BWGs to compost the waste generated by themselves, the municipal corporation has directed all the BWGs (producing 50-100 kg of waste per day) in the city mostly hotels, hostels, educational institutions, gated communities and function halls to set up composting units on their premises instead of handing over the waste to the VMC sanitation staff.
According to an estimate, there are 400 BWGs which include 100 hotels and restaurants.
“The VMC officials asked us earlier to set up onsite composting units on our apartment premises to produce organic fertiliser from the household waste instead of handing it over to sanitation staff. We have vehemently opposed the decision of the municipal corporation and told the officials about the difficulties to be faced by us after setting up the onsite composting units on our premises,” said Taxpayers Association general secretary MV Anjaneyulu.
Once again, we will take our concerns to the notice of VMC Commissioner V Prasanna Venkatesh by submitting a memorandum over the categorisation of apartments as BWGs, he added.
The Association will meet MAUD Minister seeking his intervention in the matter, he added.
“The city generates 550 metric tonnes of garbage a day. At present, the VMC is able to compost around 400 MT of garbage and the remaining is being left untreated causing much inconvenience to the people,” said VMC chief medical officer for health K Arjuna Rao.