COIMBATORE: Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) has started operating 19 of the 34 Micro Composting Centres (MCCs) in the city that were constructed under the Smart City Projects to reduce the garbage sent to the Vellalore dump yard.
On average, the CCMC collects around 1,000 to 1,100 tonnes of solid waste from across the city everyday, including nearly 300 tonnes of wet waste.
However, of the 69 MCCs proposed at an estimated cost of Rs 46.18 crore, the CCMC has managed to build 34 centres in the city due to various issues including fund crunch and opposition from people. Earlier, the civic body had only around six to seven functioning MCCs, which was gradually increased by procuring necessary equipment.
CCMC deputy commissioner Dr M Sharmila told TNIE that after procuring machinery for six centres at a cost of Rs 90 lakh under the Centre’s Swachh Bharat Mission, the MCCs started functioning. She said that the CCMC is planning to use the centre at the flower market to process flower waste and the centre at Ponnaiyarajapuram to process e-waste.
“Currently, a total of 19 centres are functioning in the city. All 19 centres, including those at RS Puram farmers’ market, Ondipudur, Thudiyalur, Ukkadam, and Eachanari, which have the capacity to process 5-10 tonnes of wet waste a day, are operated by private players in collaboration with the CCMC. We are planning to construct five additional MCCs in the city, which will take the tally to 39 and soon all 39 MCCs will be brought to functioning,” she added.
Apart from that, CCMC sources said that the civic body has also sent a proposal to CMA seeking funds to renovate and resume operations of the Bio-Gas plant at the Vellalore dump yard, which has the capacity to process 100 tonnes of waste. Currently, over five bio-gas plants have been functioning across the city including the recently renovated bio-gas plant in Bharathi Park.