New project to reclaim, develop Saduperi dumpyard

According to officials of the Corporation of Vellore, the two-acre site would be developed after the proposed project to reclaim the closed Saduperi garbage yard starts its progress.

Corporation health officer Manivannan expressed confidence that residents expectations on garbage clearance would increase following the local body winning a central government award on ‘Decentralised Solid Waste Management’ for 2019 at Visakhapatnam on Friday.

The local body clears around 220 tonnes garbage daily which is separated into degradable and non-degradable garbage through its 57 solid waste management centres. The plastic waste is segregated and sent to two cement factories in Ariyalur to be used in cement manufacture.

Asked about the proposed project, Manivannan said, “A private contractor has been fixed to reclaim the 2 lakh square feet garbage at Saduperi, to which we plan to attach the affected area in the dry Palar riverbed to ensure that the river regains its original pristine nature.”

“Though the project worth Rs 14.35 crore should have become operational in December, the contractor faced issues in importing necessary equipment and hence the delay,” Manivannan added.

Speaking to DT Next, Corporation engineer Srinivasan who accompanied Commissioner K Krishnamurthy toVisakhapatnam for the award said, “The award reinforces our work as being outstanding. Earlier, we were told that we were number 1 in the country in solid waste management and the award now has proved it.”

Manivannan further added that efforts were on to ensure that no more garbage was dumped in the Palar by conducting strict supervision and surprise inspections. It may be recalled that on many occasions, locals including students from VIT University had caught corporation conservancy staff red-handed when they tried to dump garbage in the Palar river.