Times
of India: Chennai: Monday, 06 October 2014.
The
corporation's plan to collect plastic waste, shred it and use it to lay roads
has floundered. The civic body spent 1.39 crore to buy shredding machines and
set up waste collection centres across the city, but these are not being used.
Documents
obtained by TOI show that the civic body is able to shred less than 50% of the
target 1,400 tonnes of plastic waste every year. Only 1,329 tonnes of plastic
was shredded in 15 zones since February 2012.
The units
were set up to collect and shred plastic waste for laying roads. The
corporation has stopped collecting plastic waste because several shredding
machines are not working.
Of the 1.39
crore, 72.66 lakh was spent on the shredding machines, 62.18 lakh on setting up
collection centres and 4.64 lakh for electrical work in 15 zones. The cost of
the shredding machine varies from 29 lakh to 71 lakh. For instance, Ambattur
zone spent 29.62 lakh for shredding machines and Sholinganallur spent 71.92
lakh for the same machine.
Among the 15
zones, Manali spent the most at 28.78 lakh followed by Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar (17.06
lakh), Royapuram (13.01 lakh) and Thiruvotriyur (12.29 lakh). The least was
spent by Ambattur zone (2.96 lakh).
TOI recently
reported that the civic body has failed to conduct tests for plastic content in
newly-laid roads. Chennai Plastic Manufactures' and Merchants' Association
president G Sankaran, who filed an RTI petition, said a section of officials
sabotaged the plastic-bitumen road plan. "The powerful contractor lobby
was reluctant to lay stronger roads because a longer lifespan would result in
fewer tenders for work," he said.
Chennai
discards the most number of plastics in the country after New Delhi (689
tonnes) every day, according to a June 2012 report of Central Pollution Control
Board. However, most of the plastic is not recycled and is dumped in
Kodungaiyur and Perungudi yards.
To lay a 1km
stretch, close to 1 tonne of plastic has to be added to the bitumen mix.
.JPG)
.JPG)
