The town in Andhra Pradesh has turned the collection and disposal of garbage into a profitable proposition for the municipality. The woman sanitation workers have been renamed Sulab and men as `street Decorators.’
They are generating income while keeping the town bin- free. Success mantra of the town model of garbage disposal is complete and effective ban on the use of plastic cups, polythene bags, etc. and segregation of wet and dry garbage at the starting point-be it in the kitchen or in a factory.
There is no littering on streets/ drains anymore as a sanitary worker collects from 2000 household using an auto rickshaw or cycle rickshaw at a fixed time everyday. A sustained campaign has ensured that all houses adhere to this habit of collecting their waste in two buckets.
The recyclable dry waste is sold at Rupees 4/- a kilogram to a private buyer. The wet waste is also used for making compost. Out of 120 tones of garbage collected, 60 tones are sold for recycling generating revenue of Rupees 18 lakh per annum. The municipality has won several awards for this program. The other municipalities are also slowly adopting similar type of effective practices for disposal of garbage.