Zero Waste Management Initiative at Coimbatore Airport

Coimbatore International Airport, Coimbatore Corporation and Residents Awareness Association of Coimbatore (RAAC) have initiated zero waste management at the airport premises, from Monday.

“About 900 kilograms of garbage is generated at the airport here daily. More than 85 per cent of it comes from 25 domestic and two international flights that land here every day. The rest is the waste produced by eateries, etc at the airport,” says Airport Director G. Prakash Reddy.

The waste is in huge volumes and comprises mostly of plastic bottles, cartons and carry bags, besides food waste. It is all dumped in an open yard close to the cargo section. Corporation trucks collect the garbage from there once a day in the morning or afternoon.

As it is just once a day, the garbage is accessible to stray animals, vermin and birds that scatter the litter across the nearby areas. This attracts the bigger birds posing a danger of bird hits.

“We realised that stopping the food chain would put an end to entry of stray animals to the airport,” adds the airport director.

The initiative was inaugurated by the Corporation Commissioner K. Vijayakarthikeyan on Monday. Now, the airlines will collect the wastes from the aircraft and deposit it into a kiosk near the terminal building. Persons deployed by RAAC will collect the garbage twice a day from the kiosk and take it to a segregation unit that has been lying unused for eight months since it was established. 

There, the waste will be segregated into degradable, non-degradable, recyclable and non-recyclable wastes.“They will segregate it from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and again from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and sell the recyclable materials to recycling units. Degradable and non-recyclable wastes will be collected by the corporation. It will put an end to the garbage menace without any expense to the airport,” says Terminal Manager Vanaja Sole.

According to Mr. Prakash Reddy the Airport Authority of India (AAI) is also planning to establish a biogas plant at the airport later this year after studying the volume of degradable wastes generated at the airport.

[Source]

Coimbatore Corp bags National Award for Solar Power Usage

Coimbatore Corporation has won a Central Government award for tapping solar power to use in its establishments, the civic body was the only one in Tamil Nadu and one among the few in the country to win the award – a prize of Rs. 10 lakh and a shield Government of India - Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Resources will give the award soon in New Delhi, as told by the Corporation Commissioner K. Vijayakarthikeyan told monday.

The Corporation has installed solar power plants at its main office in Town Hall in 2014-15, and at other places in 2015-16. Five zonal offices, a few schools and maternity centres. 

The installed capacity of solar panels in the five zonal offices was 37.5 kw, six maternity centres was 45 kw, the main office was 50 kw, 15 schools was 112.5 kw and other establishments was another 12 kw,  the civic body met most of its requirements.

Consequent to the award, the Corporation has asked the Central Government for Rs. 2 crore to install more solar panels. 

[Source]

Coimbatore Corporation to build bridges, improve roads

The Coimbatore Corporation is set to take up a number of road and bridge works in the city over the next few months.Funds have been sanctioned by the State Government and the Corporation Council too has cleared proposals to take up some key roads for improvements and also to provide foot path for pedestrians.Some main roads and link roads in the city will be improved with Rs.26 crore sanctioned by the State Government from the State Infrastructure and Amenities Fund.

Widening and black topping of roads in the city are some of the works, according to Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra.As many as 71 roads, totally measuring 75 km, would be taken up for widening or black topping.These would include D.B. Road at R.S. Puram, Nallampalayam Road, Villankurichi Road and Thanneerpandal Road.The Corporation Council approved at its urgent meeting on Wednesday four proposals for widening of roads, construction of bridges and laying foot paths at Rs. 3.59 crore. A 40 ft scheme road would be laid near Ranga Vilas Mill The scheme road would connect Avanashi Road with Tiruchi Road.

The Corporation said the scheme road would enable easier access for people residing along Tiruchi Road to offices and educational institutions on Avanashi Road.The Corporation allocated Rs.75 lakh to construct a bridge that would link the road with Sowripalayam Road and facilitate the access from Tiruchi Road to Avanashi Road.The Corporation would lay a road from Chinnaswamy Road to reach Avanashi Road through S.N.R. Sons College and Avarampalayam Road.

A bridge across Sanganur Canal would be built at Rs.75 lakh as part of the road work.Pavements for pedestrians would be laid from Anna Statue to Lakshmi Mills on Avanashi Road at Rs.59 lakh.A sum of Rs.75 lakh each would be spent on laying pavements from Hosur Road to Puliakulam and along Krishnaswamy Road.

Land acquisition

The Corporation also received a boost to its Pilloor Phase II drinking water scheme in the form of Government clearance for acquiring land from the Department of Forests for a collection well.Mr. Mishra said the Government had cleared the acquisition of 1.83 acres for the well.The Department of Forests would be compensated with 3.66 acres of revenue land at Tenkarai, costing Rs.10.12 lakh.

While the district administration would hand over the land to the Department of Forests, the Coimbatore Corporation would pay for it.The clearance by the Government would help in speeding up the implementation of those components of the scheme that related to creating infrastructure in the forests.

Encroachment removed to restore road link

Ending a long drawn battle, the demolition squad of the Coimbatore Corporation and revenue authorities on Thursday removed an encroachment on a revenue land on Valluvar Street in Tatabad.

According to authorities, a tiled roof structure was encroaching upon a revenue land measuring 300 ft width and 300 ft length. This led to the disconnection of a link between two roads. Even as the authorities tried to remove the encroachment, the alleged encroacher, who had applied for a patta, resisted it by creating legal hurdles, officials said. The last attempt to remove the encroachment had gone in vain because of a stay order obtained by the encroacher from a court.

On Monday, when officials reached the scene with the demolition team of the Corporation, the official machinery faced resistance and a lawyer entered the scene. The officials were told not to remove the structure till the issue of patta and legal dispute was resolved.

At one stage, the officials preferred a complaint against the lawyer stating that he was preventing them from discharging their duty. The police removed the advocate and after removing the belongings of the encroacher who was said to be an ex-serviceman the official team began the demolition work.

Masakkalipalayam road widening work begins

Corporation officials on Saturday conducted an on the spot inspection of the Masakkalipalayam road to explore the possibilities for widening it into a 80 ft scheme road.Mayor R. Venkatachalam; Deputy Mayor N. Karthik; Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra; elected representatives – councillors and chairmen of various committees, Town Planning Officer, M. Soundarrajan visited the road.

The road width at present is just 40 ft thus leading to congestion and traffic snarls and it is a crucial road branching off from Avanashi Road.There is a pertinent need to widen the road to serve the residential areas beyond the road.Officials negotiated with the land owners there to give 40 ft for 800 m to widen the road to its original plan width of 80 m.The residents said that sparing 40 m of land would be difficult and added that they would be content with the scheme road measuring 60 m length instead of the present 40 m.

Officials have planned to take the proposal forward through the Local Planning Authority and District Collector to see whether the road be widened into 60 ft or viable options could be worked out to ensure that the road is restored to the original plan of 80 ft scheme road.

Widening of this Masakkalipalayam road is paramount for melting the traffic on Avanashi Road which is increasingly becoming congested.The focus is on widening of the roads branching off from Avanashi Road.

Botanical garden: soil samples taken

Preliminary works for setting up a botanical garden on the jail premises began on Tuesday with the Agriculture Department officials taking soil samples for laboratory examinations.A team of staff members from the Agriculture Department deputed by Joint Director of Agriculture, L. Shankara Raj, took soil samples.

Officials said that soil samples would be sent for laboratory examinations and recommendations would be made on the kind of species that could be planted. Nutrient requirements and fertilizer inputs that are required for bringing up a botanical garden would be identified. A ground water table study too would be conducted. The officials have also planned to take up a detailed/retail study by digging up pits and take soil samples for ascertaining the finer aspects of the soil condition.

Drive on parking space paying off: Corporation

The Coimbatore Corporation seems to be on a mission to prove that nothing works like enforcement and follow-up. It says that these two vital factors have led to commercial complexes offering to provide space for visitors/customers to park their cars.

A multi-storeyed textile showroom on Cross-Cut Road has even begun efforts to put up a hydraulic parking facility while some others on the busy D.B. Road at R.S. Puram and at Saibaba Colony are working to keep their promise to the civic body that they will remove the unauthorised structures from the basement meant for parking.

Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra has formed a special demolition squad that identifies structures with building rule violations. The main focus is on the non-provision of parking space in the buildings. The Corporation is of the view that this leads to congestion on the roads as hundreds of parked vehicles hamper smooth flow of traffic.

“There are some positive things happening because of our sustained drive. Some of the commercial establishments are into creating the parking space themselves,” Mr. Mishra says.

Chennai Silks, the textile showroom on Cross Cut Road, has put up two hydraulic parking bays in its basement that is supposed to be only for parking. The 8,000 sq.ft. basement had been used for commercial purposes till the Corporation put a stop to it recently and asked the showroom to allocate the entire area only for parking vehicles. In the presence of an Assistant Town Planning Officer, the branch head of the showroom and a few other staff demonstrated the two hydraulic parking bays and explained how the rest of the basement will be covered by similar facilities in the next few months. A Pune-based company will supply the equipment. If only the actual floor space can be used, only 40 cars (of the low roof category) can be parked. If the entire basement is provided with the hydraulic facility, another 30 cars can be accommodated in a two-tier arrangement. The showroom staff point out that enough space is needed for negotiating turns in the basement. Therefore, the number of cars cannot exactly be doubled. As for the bigger vehicles, an open space has been allocated on a bylane.

Councillors raise concerns over plan approval scheme ??

Facing a volley of questions by members crossing across political affiliations on the proposed plan approval scheme, Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra assured to look into the concerns voiced by the members and said that a comprehensive plan would be evolved.The Commissioner’s response came at a council meeting on Monday presided by Mayor R. Venkatachalam along with Deputy Mayor N. Karthik.

Even as the zero hour began, members from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Congress and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam expressed concerns over the viability of the proposed plan approval scheme brought in by Mr. Mishra.Leader of the Opposition V.N. Udayakumar, AIADMK floor leader P. Rajkumar said that the scheme would be detrimental to the interests of the poor, especially those with a very small house sites. This would make the entire process more cumbersome for the poor and middle class.

After the question hour, the Commissioner responded to all the observations made by the members.Responding to a charge that the Commissioner’s functioning had widened the gap between the officials and the elected body, Mr. Mishra said that “no action or gesture was intentional.”The decisions are taken only in accordance with the law and rules prescribed.Requests or demands that were not valid could not be conceded.

But it did not mean that officials have little regard for elected representatives.On the observation that elected representatives could be consulted on decisions that have an impact on the public, Mr. Mishra said that decisions were well within the purview and framework of law and in future the elected representatives would be consulted.“When it comes to professional life, there has to be a limit.“Any request, suggestion or feedback within the legal frame work will be looked into,” he added.The objective of the new building plan approval initiative was to ensure a culture of compliance.

Mr. Mishra said that sites which were less than 1,000 sq ft could not be regularised. In such cases, the applicants could be asked to pay tax and penalty for approval.In cases where sites measured 1,500 sq ft, the applicants could turn up at the Corporation main office and go through the Auto Development Control Rule (Auto DCR) procedures and take the approval online.

This had been made possible in Mysore, Mr. Mishra pointed out. He also said that the corporation would go through the pre-DCR procedures and avail of the services of a panel of Licensed Building Surveyors (LBS).

Industries evince interest in water purchase

Three industries here have expressed interest in purchasing water that will be treated by the Coimbatore Corporation at its sewage treatment plants.At a workshop on water management, organised here on Tuesday by the Confederation of Indian Industry, Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra said the total capacity of the sewage treatment plants at Ukkadam, Nanjundapuram and Ondiupudur, which would come up as part of the Underground Sewerage Scheme, would be 170 million litres a day (mld). The treatment would be started soon and initially about 20 mld would be treated. Three industries had come forward to purchase the treated (non-potable) water.

The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, was studying the feasibility of selling the treated water and the pricing issue. The Commissioner said he had suggested to the industries to form a consortium. For the treatment plant that would come up at Ondipudur, the Corporation was looking at the public-private partnership mode.

On rejuvenation of the water bodies, he said the Corporation had taken up the work at eight water bodies here under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission at a cost of Rs. 130 crore. There should be a system to maintain the water bodies after the rejuvenation works. “We need a sustainable system,” he said. The Corporation had prepared a project report and would consider the public- private partnership mode to create facilities to generate revenue.

Mr. Mishra also highlighted the need to economise water usage and minimise distribution losses. “We need to increase the standards in water supply management,” he said.

Demand for scheme roads in Coimbatore city

Councillors of the Coimabatore Corporation and a citizens’ group have demanded scheme roads in the city to match the increase in the number of vehicles.While some councillors made this demand at a Council meeting two weeks ago, the Residents’ Awareness Association of Coimbatore (RAAC) has appealed for some speedy measures to provide the city with some scheme roads and its existing thoroughfares from relief from a huge volume of traffic.

Though the demands appeared to have been timed with the preparations for the World Classical Tamil Conference in June next year, the elected members and the association wanted the facilities as a long-term solution.Making this demand at the Council meeting, Communist Party of India (Marxist) councilor C. Padmanabhan lamented that no scheme road project had been implemented for over a decade.

“I have been a councillor for the last 13 years. I have seen a single scheme road project being implemented during this period,” he said. The councillor urged the Corporation to take up such road projects immediately.All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam councillor P. Rajkumar said Rs.30 crore to Rs.40 crore of the Coimbatore Corporation was with the Local Planning Authority. The fund was meant for development works such as scheme roads in the city. Scheme roads must be laid to decongest the existing roads in the city, he said.

Outside the Council, the RAAC gave a similar call. Vice-President of the association R.R. Balasundaram pointed out that Coimbatore was a major manufacturing city in the country. It was witnessing a rapid growth in the economic activity.The roads were already congested and the number of vehicles was certain to increase.Ring roads and more than 100 scheme roads were planned in 1994 Master Plan of Coimbatore.But, unfortunately, nothing much had happened so far. In 1997, the Director of Town and Country Planning had commissioned the then Pallavan Transport Corporation to carry out a Comprehensive Traffic and Transportation Study for Coimbatore Local Planning Area. The study suggested various facilities such as roads and ring roads. But, none was taken up.

Suggestions

When the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) schemes were announced, RAAC made various suggestions on road traffic improvement. Many of these were included in the JNNURM.These included 13 missing link roads that were expected to decongest the arterial roads. These and the proposed outer ring and inner ring roads must be laid to provide a long-term solution to the present traffic congestion.

Corpn. removes encroachment on reserve site

The Coimbatore Corporation authorities on Saturday removed an unauthorised makeshift structure put up on a reserve site in Meena Estate area of Coimbatore City. Following reports about unauthorised utilisation of the reserve site and construction of structures without prior plan approval, the officials swung into action.Corporation officials reached the scene with truck, earthmovers and personnel for razing down the structures. The makeshift structure was removed by the officials.

Following request from the occupants of the reserve site where a temple is located, a house constructed for the stay of the priest was left.The officials gave the occupants time to vacate and sought the removal of the concrete structure. They said that across the city such unauthorised structures were being listed out and stringent action would be initiated against the persons involved.

Local Bodies’ Day celebrations

The Coimbatore Corporation began the Local Bodies’ Day celebrations here on Sunday with a rally by school and college students to generate awareness on hygiene and promised that it would provide greater development in the city through various schemes whose implementation had already begun.Presiding over the celebrations, Mayor R. Venkatachalam sought the support of the public to the schemes that were being implemented by the civic body.He sought their co-operation to specific schemes such as the one for solid waste management.

Stating that the Corporation wanted to ensure hygiene by creating a clean city, he highlighted the efforts taken by Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra in improving the working conditions and health of conservancy workers.Apart from the special grievances redressal camps conducted in the zone offices last week in connection with the celebrations, a week-long camp would be conducted at these offices and the main office to redress the grievances of the public over various civic issues.The Corporation received 364 petitions submitted during the camp last week and steps to solve the problems mentioned in these were announced on Sunday.

The Corporation Commissioner said a lot of works had been initiated to improve various facilities in the city.“We have done well so far and let us do better,” he said while addressing the officials, staff and councillors of the civic body.“Let us strive to implement all the development schemes,” he said.Listing some of the schemes introduced by the State Government, Deputy Mayor N. Karthik said the scheme for the regularisation of house sites in the unapproved layouts was a boon to the residents who had been languishing without basic amenities such as roads, streetlights, drinking water and sewerage lines.

South Zone Chairman P. Pynthamil said the works initiated by the Ministry of Local Administration over the last three years were more than the efforts made over the last 30 years for the development of the cities such as Coimbatore.Efforts had been made in the last three years to bring the local body closer to the people. A proof of the Coimbatore Corporation’s focus on all-round development was manifest in the improvement made in its schools.West Zone Chairman V.P. Selvaraj attributed the developments in cities and towns to the decision of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Government in 1996 to hold elections to local bodies.

Held after a gap of 13 years, the elections brought about the much-needed link between the people and the local bodies, he said.East Zone Chairman S.N. Samy said though a lot of progress had been made, councillors had only 75 per cent satisfaction and it was only 50 per cent among the public.“Let us all take a pledge on this day to create a clean city. Despite rules, the drive against plastic bags is not successful to the desired level. Let us work to create a clean city that we can hand over to the next Council of the Corporation after two years,” he said.

During the function, 34 families were provided Rs.28,000 each to build houses under the Basic Services for the Urban Poor project.A total of Rs.1.37 lakh was provided to 12 thrift societies, under the Swarna Jayanthi Shahari Rozgar Yojana scheme of the Central Government.Prizes were given to 18 students of Corporation schools for winning the first three slots in various competitions held as part of the celebrations.

The Local Body day was celebrated with grandeur in Tirupur on Sunday.To mark the occasion, the Tirupur Corporation administration organised a rally as well as sports and cultural competitions.Mayor K. Selvaraj, Deputy Mayor Senthil Kumar, Corporation Commissioner R. Jayalakshmi, City Health Officer K. R Jawaharlal, councillors and traders took part in the rally which started from Corporation office premises and culminated at Nanjappa Corporation Boys Higher Secondary School.

Official sources said that the rally was aimed at disseminating the role of Panchayat Raj institutions in the overall economic development and social justice in the country, to the general public.The cultural competitions were held for both Corporation staff and for students of various schools run by the local bodies, while sports events had the participation of Corporation councillors, general public and staff of local bodies.In a function held in the evening, Minister for Highways and Minor Ports M.P. Saminathan gave away prizes to the winners of the competitions.

Efforts on for median on two major roads

The Road Safety cum Traffic Advisory Committee meeting on Friday informed that efforts were underway for bringing in medians on Avanashi Road from Hope College railway over bridge till Avanashi and from Chinthamanipudur to Palladam on Tiruchi Road.

The meeting was presided by District Collector P. Umanath while Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra, Superintendent of Police N. Kannan and others took part. Meeting also asked the officials to ensure proper road markings at the Ganapathy – Athipalayam pirivu on Sathyamangalam Road.On the plea for caution sign boards on National Highways, the meeting informed that measures would be taken to consider the request and implement the same.

On the issue of reconstructing the small/narrow culverts on Mettuppalayam Road, the officials informed that the road was under the custody of National Highways, hence there was delay for taking up the works by State Highways Department. National Highways Department officials informed that a proposal has been sent asking permission for the works to be undertaken by the State Highways Department.The meeting also asked the concerned department to do the needful for setting right the pot holes from Neelambur to Karumathampatti on Avanashi Road to make the stretch motorable.

It was also asked to redesign the median near the CMC Hospital. The meeting also gave instructions for putting up speed breakers for regulating the flow of buses exiting for Palani and Palakkad from the Ukkadam bus stand. Highways authorities were also asked to take up works for constructing centre median from Karupparayan Koil to Convent in Pollachi.A plea for centre median on Huzur Road till Anna Statue could not be conceded, since the road width was not available.

Corporation was requested to take steps for maintaining the underpass beneath the Avanashi Road flyover for the flow of two-wheeler traffic without any hitch especially water stagnation and lighting. Transport Department was asked to consider the request for making the buses with route numbers 3 and 5 ply via Variety Hall Road. Authorities were also asked to evict encroachments in parking areas.

Drive against stray cattle

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) conducted a drive against stray cattle on roads in Coimbatore East and took to custody 30 goats.They were brought to the cattle yard in the taluk office compound.District Collector P. Umanath and Superintendent of Police N. Kannan ordered the drive.

Special team

Joint Director of Animal Husbandry V. Jagadeesan constituted a special team led by SPCA Inspectors J. Fredrick Vimalan and R. Balakrishnan for the purpose.Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra provided trucks and conservancy workers to remove stray cattle from the roads.

The drive focused on Neelikonampalayam, Anjaneyar Colony, Puliakulam, Singanallur and Dhamu Nagar.The Corporation Zoo Director and Veterinarian R. Perumalsamy administered vaccine to goats. SPCA authorities have registered a case against goat owners under sections 11 (1) (h) (i) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of 1959/60.

Deadlock persists over water tariff revision

The Coimbatore Corporation is yet to succeed in its efforts to convince the parties in the Council on the need to increase the tariff for drinking water supplied across the city under the Siruvani and Pilloor schemes.There are indications that the Corporation may hold yet another meeting with the leaders of the parties to facilitate an approval by the Council of the rates suggested by the Government.

In February this year, the Department of Municipal Administration and Water Supply suggested changes to the tariff on the grounds that these may help the Corporation in generating the revenue required to fund schemes to augment water supply, especially in the light of the civic body’s plan for 24-hour supply in the city.

Two to three all-party meetings failed to reach any accord over the tariff, as councillors were opposed to an increase. They wanted the supply situation to be improved first. Their argument was that people could not be asked to pay more when less water was supplied to them.The Corporation has begun the works on the Phase II scheme and it says that unless adequate revenue is generated under the water supply account the civic body will find it difficult to repay loans got to implement the Rs.113-crore scheme.

Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra says the annual revenue on the water supply front is only Rs.20 crore. A large chunk from this goes towards repairs to and maintenance of the lines in the existing schemes. The Central Government is providing 50 per cent of the project cost as grant. While the State Government will provide a 20 per cent grant or interest-free loan, the rest 30 per cent will have to be mobilised by the Corporation. This portion, in all probability, will come only in the form of loan with interest.

On the argument of the councillors that water supply will have to be improved before increasing the tariff, the Corporation says this is not possible.First, the scheme has to be implemented to improve supply. For this, funds are needed. And, the funds can come only through loans and grants.But, the Corporation has to demonstrate clearly its revenue-generation capacity if it has to get funds for the project, especially loan.

The demonstration of this capacity is a condition under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission for the release of grants and loans.

Tipper to replace Bullock carts

Tippers that are five ft to six ft wide will replace bullock carts in the task of collecting garbage from narrow lanes in the city that are seven ft to 10 ft wide. The Coimbatore Corporation has purchased 12 tippers and three vehicles have been allocated to each of the four zones.

While each of these vehicles will have a large number of wards to cover now, more of these will be bought to ensure that adequate number of tippers to reduce collection time in all the 72 wards. There are plans to buy another 24 tippers so that one tipper is allocated to a unit of two wards.Ultimately, 157 bullock carts used till now to collect both biodegradable and non-biodegradable for residential colonies will be off the roads. The cart drivers will now be re-designated as cleaners of the tippers.

Narrow lanes

With this, the Corporation aims to remove bottlenecks in garbage collection in narrow lanes and reduce the time taken for collection and transportation.“Our primary aim is to remove the bullock carts from waste management. At the same time, people will have to segregate waste in the two bins we have provided and hand over these to the tippers,” according to Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra.An official explains that as per a Government of India order, animal-drawn vehicles should not be used for transporting garbage or any other materials.

Besides, the time taken by the carts to transport garbage was far higher than the one taken by motor vehicles.A cart can make only one or two trips. But, a tipper can make a minimum of three trips.So, the volume of waste cleared every day will be high, an official explained.

Chambers

A cart can hold only 500 kg of waste. But, tipper can carry 600 kg to 650 kg of segregated waste. The tippers had two chambers – one for biodegradable waste and the other for the non-biodegradable. This means the public will have to handover to the cleaner only segregated waste.The fully covered tippers will take the waste to the transfer station nearest to their areas of collection. The stations were being established at Ondipudur, Peelamedu, Sathyamangalam Road and Ukkadam.

Confusion about I & A charges ..

Confusion seems to persist in the local bodies in Coimbatore over the Government’s order to collect Infrastructure and Amenities (I and A) Charges. Some of them do not know about of the charges at all and many others have not begun collecting it though they are aware of these.

“Some other local bodies have confused these charges with the development charges collected for providing amenities to layouts,” says Coimbatore Consumer Cause secretary K. Kathirmathiyon. “But, Infrastructure and Amenities charges go to a common pool for providing infrastructure in the State,” he points out.

The Government created the Infrastructure Development Fund through a gazette notification of the Housing and Urban Development Department on January 26, 2008. It was given retrospective effect from November 12, 2007. As per the new system, people who apply for permission to construct building (except residential structures of up to four dwelling units) should pay the charges.

Mr. Kathirmathiyon says that the Local Planning Authority had collected the charges when plans were submitted to it for permission. But, the local bodies such as corporations, municipalities, town panchayats and panchayats had not. He said the consumer body had brought this to the notice of the government. Now, the government has reduced the charges. But the local bodies have not been informed adequately about the system of collecting charges, he says.

Corporation keen in tapping solar energy ..

The Coimbatore Corporation plans to tap solar energy for its in-house uses and also to power street lights and other public utilities in a phased manner, Mayor R. Venkatachalam and Deputy Commissioner V. Shanta told presspersons on Tuesday.

As a first step, the Corporation would use the option of this renewable energy in its offices and then expand this across the city. Other renewable energy options would also be explored. The objective was to create a solar energy city, they said.The Corporation’s efforts towards this end were a part of a South Asian programme for local bodies on the use of renewable energy to prevent climate change.

The Coimbatore Corporation was among 53 South Asian cities (40 from India) to participate in a project called “The Roadmap of South Asian Cities and Local Governments for the post-2012 Global Climate Agreement. This was part of an initiative by International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) -- South Asia that was supported by the British High Commission in New Delhi.

ICLEI- South Asia’s Southern Centre Manager Soumya Chaturvedula explained the objectives of the initiative and the current situation and prospects in Coimbatore.Under this project, the Coimbatore Corporation shared information with ICLEI on energy consumption for street lighting, transportation, pumping of water and for residential and commercial purposes in the city. ICLEI studied the consumption pattern and came out with a City Energy Status Report that showed the consumption levels by various sectors and the resultant carbon emission level. Similar data had been collected from the other 52 countries to prepare a carbon emission inventory.

The findings on the situation in Coimbatore city were discussed with the Corporation at a workshop in Mysore in June this year. The city’s total carbon emission was put at 12.75 lakh tonnes. While the Corporation’s power use-related activities contributed 8,545 tonnes, the rest was contributed by the community. The per capita carbon emission in the city was 1.37 tonnes and this was below the national level of 1.75 tonnes.

ICLEI’s plans for the Corporation included energy-efficient systems for street lights, pumping of water and waste management. The Corporation would participate at a world level meet on this issue at Copenhagen in Denmark in December.

Dhobi ghat opened

The Coimbatore Corporation has established a new dhobi ghat in the city in order to provide a hygienic place for washing and drying of clothes.

Rural Industries Minister Pongalur N. Palanisamy opened the new facility on Kaleeswara Mill Road at Kattoor that came under the Coimbatore East Constituency that he represented as a legislator.Mayor R. Venkatachalam, Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra and other officials and councillors of the Corporation were present.

South Zone Chairman of the Corporation P. Pynthamil said the ghat with 20 beddings and enough water facility had been constructed on 15 cents with Rs.10 lakh from the MLA’s Constituency Development Fund allocated to Mr. Palanisamy. About 300 dhobi families would benefit from the new facility, he said.The facility came under the South Zone of the Corporation.

The reason behind providing this was the dangers from washing in polluted water in tanks and drying at unhygienic places. Many of these people were washing clothes in the Valankulam that was polluted by sewage.Quoting the dhobi families, Mr. Pari said successive generations of people involved in this job had been appealing for the facility for about 50 years in the city and the ghat at Chokkampudur was inadequate.

While 15 cents out of one acre in Kattoor had gone to this facility, some more space was taken up for constructing four houses of 750 sq.ft. each for sanitary inspectors and junior engineers of the Corporation.

Much-awaited drainage scheme works take off

The much-awaited works to lay sewage lines for the Rs.377-crore underground drainage scheme took off in the city on Monday after a delay of 10 years.The Corporation also made it clear that the public would have to brace for some inconvenience as roads would have to be dug to lay the lines. But, the best of efforts would be made to reduce the inconvenience.

Rural Industries Minister Pongalur N. Palanisamy launched the works to lay the pipes and construct sewage chambers in the presence of Mayor R. Venkatachalam, Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra, Deputy Mayor N. Karthik and councillors and officials of the civic body.The Commissioner said that the works begun on Monday were for six of the eight zones for which the sewers scheme was being implemented. The cost of these works was estimated at Rs.191 crore.

In the phase just begun, the contractor would lay 510 km of main lines, out of the total 635 km under the scheme. Another 680 km of lines for house connections (from the main lines) would also be laid. This phase would cover 53 out of the total 72 wards in the city.“Out of the total 30 months for the project implementation, two have already elapsed. The aim is to complete the project within the time-frame,” Mr. Mishra said.

“The scheme is important from the point of view of hygiene as people in many areas are connecting their toilet lines to the storm water drains,” he said.

Appeal

The Commissioner requested the public to show some patience during the implementation period.“This is a kind of project that will cause inconvenience, but will provide a permanent solution to the present problems in sewage disposal,” he said.

The Corporation would have a sub-plan to minimise inconvenience to the people. “We will involve residents’ welfare associations, councillors and the contractor in every area covered under the scheme to devise ways to avoid problems. They can decide on which area should be taken up first so that vehicle and pedestrian movement is not affected,” Mr. Mishra said. Discussions would be held with the traffic police also on digging roads without impeding traffic flow.