TURA: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has directed the district administration and the municipal board of Tura to accelerate the activation of the waste segregation machine set up at the garbage dumping site at Agillanggre, on the outskirts of Tura, to mitigate the problem of waste which has been spilling over to a nearby cemetery.
He has also suggested that plastic waste collected may be used for construction of roads as is being done under the Megha-Lamp project in the state.
The dumping site has become an eyesore for the town and its inhabitants and the rising mounds of garbage has begun to spill over to adjoining lands.
The chief minister led a delegation of officials to inspect the dumping site and see first hand the installed machines which have not been made operational even though it was put in place a long time back.
“The problem of waste is huge and we are all concerned about it. We have to initiate a plan to provide relief to the people facing this problem and look at options to stop waste dumping,” said the chief minister during a meeting with the locality people.
Accompanied by Joint Secretary in the Chief Minister’s Office, Arun Kemvabe and Cyril Diengdoh, together with deputy commissioner Ram Singh, the chief minister saw for himself the spilling over of waste to the nearby cemetery located on the fringes of the dump site.
“One of the options has to be segregation of plastic which needs to be done with the use of the installed machines. We also have to take up mass compositing through the use of bio chemical that will not be harmful to the environment,” said the chief minister who has asked the municipal board to clear the spill over of waste from the cemetery.
While the urban affairs and municipal board have been asked to initiate measures in consultation with the public to resolve the menace, the chief minister also appealed to the public to join hands in checking this problem.
“Garbage problem begins from individual. If we have to make Tura town clean then everyone has to be involved in ensuring cleanliness. Community should take a pledge and set an example to society. We must also ensure waste segregation begins at individual household and locality level, municipal collection of the garbage early and recycle of the same in an environment friendly manner,” suggested Conrad Sangma.