Manipur village authorities buy solid waste to spread awareness

The authorities of a village in Manipur are buying dry waste generated in its jurisdiction as part of a campaign to promote cleanliness and environment awareness.

The Kaibi village authority has spent ₹1.8 lakh (inclusive of collection and transportation charges) as part of the initiative so far, and bought 8,000 kg of dry waste – consisting of paper, plastic, sweet wrappers, bottles, unused shoes and clothes — for ₹20 per kg from residents. The waste is packed in used cement bags and transported to an isolated part of the village, where it will be disposed of in consultation with the authorities. The campaign, held as part of the ‘Dustbin-less Drive Festival’ on December 16 every year, has now become a tourist attraction. Officials said they struck upon the idea after various attempts at waste management in the village went in vain.

“We took up this initiative to show residents that cleanliness can be maintained in our village without the use of dustbins,” said Pukeho Athishu, secretary of the Kaibi village authority.

The initiative has been taken up in the village, populated by 3,000 members of the Mao community, as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan.

“Though we do not have any immediate waste disposal plan, we are trying to relocate it to an isolated zone,” Athishu told HT over the phone. “We want the district authorities and the state administration to support our initiative.” Manipur generates around 178 tonnes of solid waste, 100 tonnes of which comes from the Greater Imphal area alone, on a daily basis. However, Central Pollution Control Board reports indicate that only 125 tonnes of this is collected by civic authorities.

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