Chennai, Oct 1 (IANS) The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) in Tamil Nadu will resume its 40-day household waste segregation awareness campaign across the city’s southern region on Thursday, with civic officials reporting improved participation among residents who have received collection bags.
The initiative, titled “Segregate Waste – Save Tomorrow”, was launched on August 22 but paused to allow officials to complete the distribution of dry waste bags and monitoring stickers to targeted households.
As of September 28, materials had reached 45,000 of the 50,000 households identified for the programme. Officials said the remaining distribution would be completed shortly, after which the formal 40-day challenge would begin.
Households demonstrating the best segregation practices will receive prizes at the conclusion. According to a senior civic official, segregation among households supplied with bags has increased from 35 per cent to 64 per cent.
The campaign aims to help residents understand how to separate biodegradable, non-biodegradable, sanitary and hazardous waste before handing it over to collection workers.
Officials said the Solid Waste Management Rules 2026 require separate disposal of the four waste categories, making household participation central to the initiative. Residents in Adambakkam said daily visits and reminders from sanitation workers had encouraged them to separate waste into four categories.
Some households had already been handing over wet and dry waste separately for more than two years. However, residents in some wards under the corporation flagged the absence of dedicated red bins for sanitary waste on some collection vehicles.
Workers currently collect such items separately in plastic covers or black bins and record compliance on monitoring sheets displayed outside homes.
Civic officials have instructed the private waste collection contractor to provide sanitary waste bins on battery-operated vehicles. A contractor spokesperson said red bins had been ordered and would be supplied to drivers once delivered. Collection workers, meanwhile, said uneven compliance was extending their working hours. A driver covering 23 streets in the Alandur zone said some residents insisted that workers separate mixed garbage themselves, delaying collection and reducing time for lunch breaks.
A councillor said segregation was improving in residential neighbourhoods, although ensuring consistent participation in slum areas remained difficult.
Officials said expanding the campaign across Chennai would require additional funding for bags. Supplies for the first phase were obtained through corporate social responsibility support, and further coverage would depend on securing fresh contributions.
–IANS
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