Under a pilot project, a Trash Barrier has been deployed at Keere Pole in Gonikoppa. After the test run it will be officially inaugurated by Virajpet MLA A S Ponnana and DC Venkat Raja. The project has been sponsored by MORE Retail, Plastic Fischer and Mr. Zakir from Bangalore. Students from IIFM, Bangalore along with students from Info Park, Gonikoppa , Irshad, Gonikoppa Panchayat members & CCI were instrumental in seeing the project being conceptualized and implemented.
Just a few showers has exposed the filthy garbage littered around in Coorg.
It is heartening to see organizations such as CCI (The Clean Coorg Initiative) amongst others, at the forefront of addressing this menace.
CCI is a voluntary group comprising of locals from all walks of life, who have come together with the intention of raising awareness on the need to protect and preserve Kodagu from the peril of modern age, GARBAGE. They believe the time has come to walk-the-talk and put the green back in Coorg.
These type of initiatives to keep the ecosystem of Coorg clean without plastic should be supported by all the residents of Coorg. We cannot just blame the tourists for throwing garbage and plastic here and there and escaping. Even the residents of Coorg should not do the same.
Gram Panchayats can fine the residents and tourists, but they are not exercising their power to do so.
Notice boards should be put everywhere in Coorg, in towns and next to the roads alerting them not to litter and if they do, then a fine will be imposed. Bins should be provided in suitable places to notify everyone to properly dispose off segregated garbage in the designated bins or be levied substantial fines. If anyone ventures to enter the old market behind the bus stand at Gonikoppa, one will be asphyxiated by the stench and the accumulated filth. This only highlights that local bodies are duty bound to keep such places clean.
It is not without reason that the adage Prevention is Better than Cure exists. Awareness programs for Children, our future of Coorg should be carried out in all schools and colleges to heighten the impact of this menace. Hotels and Homestays should also take responsibility to create awareness among the tourists who stay with them.
At all the tourist spots in Coorg, Gram Panchayats have their employees collecting parking fees from tourists. Surely they can be empowered to keep vigil and fine the negligent individuals for littering the areas.
A final thought – if we can carry out Hockey Festivals with such success, surely something as important as the CONTROL OF GARBAGE can be managed with equal success by all the communities in Kodagu.
Our District Administration can also learn from other destinations like Ooty and support community initiatives in keeping Kodagu clean.
More from CCI about Keere Pole Project:
In our sacred land we consider our river waters to be most pure – purer than Ganga Jal. We revere Kaveramma as our Mother. This initiative should open the eyes of the inhabitants of Kodagu to keep our rivers and streams clean. Not only should the Gram Panchayats’ exercise their administrative authority to monitor garbage disposal, they should impose stringent fines on cavalier and irresponsible tourists and inhabitants from polluting our landscape and water bodies.
It would be truly going back to the roots of our culture if the community members of each Ur, Keri and Nad take pride in ensuring that people do not litter their demarcated areas.
There should be widespread awareness programmes and basic facilities to make sure that this garbage menace is eradicated.
Fantastic initiative! This is a great start and we would need to work with the district administration to ensure we nip the problem in the bud!
Let us learn from other large scale initiatives. If the MLA and DC make up their minds, they can lead the charge for a highly sustainable project like what was done in Indore. A more holistic approach is the need of the hour.
Why does Indore keep ranking as the cleanest city? Indore Municipal Corporation’s (IMC) consultant for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Amit Dubey, told PTI, “A sustainable system of garbage collection, processing and disposal has been developed in Indore”. The household wet waste goes to the bio-CNG plant for conversion into gas while all else is sold by the Corporation itself. IMC generates around 120 tonnes of organic manure per day, of which 30 per cent is used and 70 per cent is sold.” A lot of information is available on how Indore has been ranked #1 cleanest city year after.
Feedback Foundation has been empaneled by Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) as an agency for creating awareness in 3 zones of IMC, Madhya Pradesh for Solid Waste Management. As part of this intervention, FF is conducting awareness and IEC (Information, Education and Communication) campaigns for mass mobilization of all waste generators for waste reduction and segregation of waste at source. Capacity building workshops and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBM) thematic drives are also being organized.
Fantastic initiative – simple and deployed in many places – this solution is not as yet a proven problem solver – but work-in-progress. Timely removal of garbage collection is critical.
Our rivers and connecting streams are badly polluted with human waste (raw sewage) which makes it a challenge for collecting the garbage in the net. Can anything be done to stop this right away?
Incidentally all this hullabaloo does not address the key problem – why is garbage being generated and disposed so recklessly in the first place? Requires major awareness drive and wholehearted participation by the residents and their representatives.
“Garbage and waste management is a very serious issue. While the Trash Barrier project has to be applauded, let us step back and understand what the real problem is:
1. Proper segregation of garbage is a must – it enables recycling and also valuable recycling that can generate money to make the programme enduringly sustainable.
2. Alarmingly in Kodagu, there is large scale contamination of our water bodies with unacceptable sewage. This is well within the control of the Gram Panchayats, Muncipal Bodies and District Administration to control. The current situation is deplorable and an abject non-performance of basic civic and health duties. What is the point of grandiose schemes like Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, or Clean India Mission – a country-wide campaign initiated by the Government of India if such basic matters are overlooked. If a fraction of the time spent on electioneering is spent on such basic infrastructure being mandated, Kodagu would be a better place to live in.
3. CCI is a very good initiative. It would be a remarkable achievement by all the inhabitants of Kodagu if they embrace the concept for cleaner, greener and a more salubrious environment.
4. The scourge of unregulated tourism is another cause for the pathetic garbage we see all across the countryside. Unfortunately it is not only the tourists but the locals who add to the unsightly spectacle.
COORDINATED ACTION IS THE NEED OF THE HOUR WITH A PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTICIPATION EFFORT. If Nagpur can do it, why can’t we do it. *We definitely inherited a cleaner environment from our ancestors – the future generations deserve better. Let’s leave the place better than we found it!*
“It’s really heartening to see new methods being initiated and used in Kodagu to arrest pollution of our rivers – hats off to CCI. If it is successful at Keere Pole’, hopefully the community at large will adopt this novel approach and prevent our waters from getting polluted.
However we have to find ways to extend this initiative to the garbage we find carelessly thrown all over the roadsides, markets, towns, social gathering halls – in fact everywhere. Why is it that when we travel abroad to places like Singapore we behave and follow all the rules? If that be the case, our Administration in Kodagu should follow the rules of Singapore that makes anyone violating the garbage disposal rules compulsorily do CLEANING SOCIAL SERVICES monitored by the government authorities.
Sad state, pathetic,, spot hefty fine will be a solution,
One of the best project taken up by the concerned organisation.
*A CIVILISATION WHO CONSIDER RIVER’S AS THEIR MOTHER’S POLLUTE THE RIVER THE MOST*
*IF THERE IS POLITICAL WILL TO TAKE SOME ACTION,ACTIONS CAN BE TAKEN , SOLUTION CAN BE FOUND AND WORLD CAN HEAL*