National Green Tribunal State Committee Chairman Justice Subhash Adi tells Municipal Bodies

Mysore/Mysuru: Chairman of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) Monitoring Committee, Karnataka, Justice Subhash B. Adi called for strict implementation of Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules framed in 2016 to bring back the India’s ‘Cleanest City’ tag for Mysuru.

“Every Corporator, officer and citizen of an Urban Local Body (ULB) or a Gram Panchayat (GP) is responsible for scientific disposal of waste generated in their Wards by implementing the SWM Rules 2016,” he said, inaugurating a day-long workshop on SWM Rules 2016 for elected representatives and officers of MCC, GPs and ULBs of Mysuru district this morning.

Over 200 to 250 representatives from all over Mysuru are attending the workshop organised by Mysuru District Administration and the MCC at Hemavathy Auditorium of Administrative Training Institute (ATI) on Lalitha Mahal Road. The issue of Solid Waste Management (SWM) is of paramount importance for the protection of environment. Failure to address this in a satisfactory manner will cause air and water pollution, Justice Adi said, exhorting the officers and elected representatives to dispose of solid waste in a segregated and scientific manner.

All citizens should segregate waste (dry and wet) before giving it to the waste collectors. About 40 percent of waste comes from bulk generators and the officers and elected representatives must keep a track of how much waste is being collected and where the waste is being disposed of. “Penalty must be imposed if the waste is not properly collected and transported and it’s imperative that all the SWM processing plants must function properly. Karnataka State Pollution Control Board must regularly inspect the water and air near the garbage processing plants,” he added.

Awareness should be created among people regarding proper disposal of waste and awareness workshops should be conducted, he said. “Enough care must be taken to ensure that bio-medical waste is not mixed with municipal solid waste. Source composting has to be made mandatory for individual houses and gated communities by inserting necessary provisions in bylaws under SWM Rules,” he said.

Mayor (in-Charge) Sunanda Palanetra presided. Deputy Commissioner Dr. Bagadi Gautham, MCC Commissioner G. Lakshmikantha Reddy, MCC Additional Commissioner M.J. Roopa and Health Officer Dr. D.G. Nagaraj were present.

The day-long workshop will feature a series of technical sessions including the one on SWM Rules 2016 by Justice Subhash Adi, home composting, community composting and segregation of waste at source by G. Vivek Bharadwhaj, Programme Manager, NIE-CREST and a session on construction and demolition waste management by M. Rajesh Kumar, R-LEEF Industries, Mysuru.