Power, water supply to be disconnected if waste not segregated at source

The Nilgiris district administration has announced that power and water supply connections will be terminated to residents and traders, who fail to segregate waste at source.

In a press release, the Nilgiris District Collector, J Innocent Divya, said that as part of the district administration’s efforts to stop the dumping of waste in the Theetukkal dumpyard and to properly dispose of waste generated across the district, sanitary inspectors and conservancy workers will work together to identify households and businesses where waste has not been properly segregated into “biodegradable” and “non biodegradable” bins at source.

The administration announced that persons, who have been found to have not segregated waste at source will face the prospect of having their power and water supply connections terminated. Penalty will be imposed on persons who fail to respond to the new directives more than thrice, the district administration said.

Moreover, businesses will have to sort their waste in separate bins kept outside their stores, in such a way that wet waste is disposed of in one bin, while plastic and other dry waste will have to be separated and dumped in another bin.

The new rules are set to come into force from September 15 and have been prompted by calls from conservancy workers, who wanted strict action to be initiated against people not segregating their waste.

They complained that due to a lack of punishment for rule-breakers, most people failed to segregate waste at source, leading to a lack of efficiency in treating of waste.

Plastic bottles seized

The ban on sale of water and soft drinks packaged in plastic bottles is being enforced strictly across the district, with the district administration announcing that 186 bottles were seized from shops selling them along the highways running through the district, while 5.4 kg of single-use plastics were also seized from shops and businesses, during checks conducted in Udhagamandalam, Coonoor, Gudalur and Kotagiri on Wednesday.