IMPROVEMENT
OF LIVING ENVIRONMENT
- SURYAPET
MUNICIPALITY
PROF.
A. MALLA REDDY
DEPUTY DIRECTOR
JULY, 2012
Regional
Centre for Urban and Environmental Studies
(Sponsored by Ministry of
Urban Development, Govt. of India)
Osmania University,
Hyderabad - 500007
IMPROVING LIVING ENVIRONMENT - SURYAPET MUNICIPALITY
Introduction
The urban centres
in India are constantly increasing. They
are emerging as centres for the growth, as growth centres they are expected to
organize the growing needs of the habitants. The Government has formulated municipal laws
to manage the urban local bodies ULBs.
The municipal laws prescribed the duties to be done obligatory and
discretionary. The ULBs are making
efforts to meet the duties. The field observation show us that municipal
needs are increasing and the resources are decreasing. The
municipalities are finding difficulties in meeting the basic needs of the
dwellers. The urban infrastructure
deficiencies had negative effects, the
ecological balance was disturbed leading to global warming. Government of India and State Governments
planned and introduced schemes strengthening urban infrastructure, urban governance,
slum improvement and urban poverty alleviation. The ULBs availed the schemes
and benefited the respective dwellers.
The quality of
living in a municipality is dependent on the living environment. The living environment is broadly dependent
on geological conditions, availability of water and electricity, efficiency of municipal
management and people’s participation. The quality of environment differed from
municipality to municipality based on the above mentioned factors. However, hostile
is the living environment there is always a scope for improving the living
environment. The living environment can
the improved by studying the local conditions, analyzing the conditions and
introducing appropriate imputs. The improvement
of living environment is also associated
with conscious municipal officers, elected representatives, Non Governmental
Organization (NGOs) and civil societies.
The progress
achieved in improvement of living environment indicated that the conscious
effort is made in selected municipalities and the progress is achieved in few
municipalities. The municipalities which
have introduced the improvement of living environment focused on the selected
activities. There are very few
municipalities which have made full-fledged attempt focusing on all the related
activities in improving the environment, among these municipalities Suryapet
Municipaality is one of them. The
detailed process of improving living environment in Suryapet Municipality is
presented below.
About Suryapet
Municipality
Suryapet town is in Nalgonda
District of Andhra Pradesh. It is
located on the National Highway No.9, in between Hyderabad City and Vijayawada
City. It is at a distance of 132 kms.,
from Hyderabad. Suryapet hinter land is
agriculture based, the town has become a centre for marketing and processing
agricultural produce. It has floating
population from the neighbouring revenue divisions from Nalgonda, Warangal, and
Khammam Districts of Andhra Pradesh. It
has emerged as a commercial and educational centre in the region. The municipality was formed in 1952,
gradually it was upgraded to grade I municipality. The population was 1.05 lakhs as per the 2011
census. The municipality consists of 34 municipal wards, having
269 km of roads and 340.5 kms., of drains. The majority of wards have
slums with poor housing structures. The town attracted un-skill labour/below
poverty people, they settled in 50 slums.
The urban poor women in Below Poverty Line BPL category families are
organized into the Self Helf Groups SHGs, 870 SHGs are formed, the SHGs are
integrated into 87 Slum Level Federations SLFs.
Improving Living
Environment
The improvement of
living environment is a sensitive activity.
The Suryapet Municipality approached the improvement of living
environment in a planned method. The
Municipal Commissioner understood the municipal problems of the Suryapet
Municipality and made efforts to find solutions to the identified
problems. The main problems of Suryapet
Municipality are viz., extreme hot condition shortage of financial resources,
shortage of water supply, stagnation of sullage in drainage, mosquito problems,
use of plastic products, poor solid waste management and migration of poor
unskilled labour. These problems arised
due to multiple issues viz., lack of plantation, depletion of water source,
increase in below poverty line families, lack of basic services in wards,
formation of slums, shortage of electricity, usage of very heavy voltage lights,
irregular street lighting and payment of
heavy electrical bills, problems of
electricity in pumping water, piling
plastic waste in the streets and worming
environment, The Municipal Commissioner analysed the local
problems, placed the issues before municipal council and initiated the
necessary actions. The activities
proposed in improvement of living environment needed the attention and support
of the municipal council, civil societies, non-governmental organizations,
community based organizations, resident welfare associations and the citizens. The municipality elicited their support in
improvement of the environment.
The process of
improvement of living environment in Suryapet Municipality has focused on the following selected areas viz., improving greenery through plantation, water body conservation, introduction of
energy saving, taping solar energy, controlling use of plastic, scientific
method of solid waste collection and disposal system, bio-iradication of
mosquitoes, pro-poor water supply policy, improving health of poor by
introducing kitchen gardens, involvement of civic societies in community
welfare activities. The following paras
explain the details of the initiatives made by Suryapet Municipality, process adopted
in the activities, achievement made in the activities, the role of activities
in improving the environment and the impact of the activities.
PLANTATION
The tree
plantation is one of the activity initiated to improve the living environment. Sri Prakash Gandhuri Ward No.11, Councillor,
Suryapet expressed that the Suryapet is one of the hottest place in Andhra
Pradesh. He expressed that the people of
Suryapet have borne the brunt of heat for a long time and all of us have the responsibilities to control heat. The road widening, road development
activities, diversion of National Highway necessitated cutting down the
available trees and have further deepened the crises. One of the activity which needs attention to
control heat is tree plantation. He felt
the tree plantation received least attention in Suryapet for the past seven
years. The elected representatives
viz., MLA and Municipal Councillors have taken green rally, through the rally
message was sent to the people, people are convinced for tree plantation. The
Municipal Commissioner has shown concern and introduced activities from 2010
onwards to bring changes in the living environment. He expressed that as a councillor he had
involved in all the activities initiated for controlling temperature in
Suryapet Municipality.
The municipality
responded to the call given by Chief Conservator of Forest, Govt. of Andhra
Pradesh to plant “Two Million Trees/Plantation in one Single Day” on 09-7-2011
to celebrate Vanamahostava Day. The targets
were fixed to the districts, the District Collectors fixed target for Suryapet
Municipality. The Municipal Commissioner sensitized the Councillors about the
government initiative and issued the notices to call the owners/managers
of education institutions,
organizations, factories, new agricultural market, individual with large
compounds and explained the need for plantation on a large scale to bring
changes in the climate and contribute for reducing the global warning. The owners/managers responded positively to
the municipality call and decided to follow municipal programme on plantation. The municipality pooled plants viz., Teak,
Neem, Peppal, Equiliptus and other shade bearing trees distributed them to the
agencies and institutions, they received the plants and planted them in their
premises, see Fig. No. 1 Teak plantation, Fig. No.2 Equiliptus plantation, Fig.
No. 3 Poppaiah Plants
Fig. No. 1. Teak Plantation
Fig. No.2. Equiliptus Plantation
The municipality
has taken interest and celebrated the Ozone Day, World Environmental Day, Vanamahostavam
day. During these celebrations municipality emphasized the role of institutions
and citizens, influenced the people to take up preventive measures and organize
plantations. The municipality has
understand its role and decided to pool plants and make them available to
different category of people. It has started nursery at its compost yard for the
plants of high utility viz., Alvera, Voma, Tulasi etc. for distribution among
the people.
The municipality
brought awareness on tree plantation in the Self Help Groups SHG meetings
covering almost all the BPL families.
The massage of tree plantation reached all the households in Suryapet
Municipality. The municipality used the opportunity and pooled plants Amla,
Guva, Banana, Drumstick, Gorantaku, Poppai, Jamunu etc., from Kadiyam nursery distributed
them to the BPL families. The municipality focused on Drumstick plants
to minimise the fluoride effects from water, now the municipality is also
advocating use of Amla which also neutralizes the fluoride effects. The municipality initiated “Intintiki Amla”,
programme, under this programme municipality planned to distribute Amla trees
through schools. Amla is rich source of vitamin C and minarals. The
municipality issued 500 plants each to four schools and requested them
to issue plants to their students and record their names. The BPL families in SHGs also benefited under
the programme. These plants added greenery in the municipality and yielded high value products which can improve
vitamins and nutrition.
The District Collector fixed 25000 plants
target for the year 2011-12. The
municipality felt that the target is not in commensurate with the number of
wards and the large catchment area. The
municipality visualized to meet the local need, made all kinds efforts. The municipality approached the district collector,
pooled plants from different sources viz., government departments, private doners, nursaries and also encouraged
organizations viz., sub jail Suryapet,
Sudhakar Pipes company to raise nursaries, these organizations responded
and raised nursaries produced plants for distribution.
The Municipal Chairman has taken special
interest in planning and executing the plantation activities. The elected
representatives followed the municipal plantation programme. The municipality
also issued a paper advertisement calling peoples participation in the tree
plantation through contribution of trees and planting trees. NGOs viz., Vrusha
Yagnam, Council for Green Revolution, Lions Club, Vasavi Club, Juniors Club
have responded. The municipality sort the approval of the budget from
Council/Special Officer and purchased
implements for digging pits for tree plantation. The municipality incurred transport charges
for transporting plants to Suryapet. The municipality assigned duties to
sanitary inspector, sanitary jawans, community organisers, project persons,
water supply workers and students in plant distribution. The number of trees planted
are 1,18,000, the number increased than the target and the plantation programme
progressed.
Sai Temple Trust, Suryapet closely associated with a tree plantation in
Suryapet. Chairman of the trust
approached the Municipal Commissioner and expressed his view that every house
in Suryapet should be planted with a tree.
The municipality agreed to the concept and pooled trees and delivered to
the trust, the trust distributed them along with its plants to the visitors and
appealed them to take care of the plants and it will take care
of people. This activity gained
popularity, number of doners increased and the number of plants distributed
increased during rainy season. The
activity become popular, it turned out to become a green bank, see Fig. No.4 Flower
Plants in Shirdi Temple.
Fig. No. 4 –
Plants Shirdi Temple Fig.
No. 3 – Papaya plants
The observation of
wards in Suryapet Municipality show us the tree plantation is covered in all
the wards, the houses have atleast one tree. The trees need constant care to
sustain them, the trees planted in the house are taken care by the house
owners, trees planted by the institution are taken care by themselves, trees
planted on the roads are taken care by the people residing in the lanes, there
are very few trees left out uncared. The
greenery is constantly increasing, among the wards the ward No.22 Indiramma Colony received
attention, see Fig. No. 5 and Fig. No. 6.
The lanes in the colony show us they have shade trees, the houses have
fruit and vegetable bearing plants, the
plants are growing, in next few years the colony will be fully covered with
greenery and fruits.
Fig. No.5 Plants in Streets (Indiramma Colony) Fig. No.6 Plants in Streets
It was a responsibility
based plantation people have taken the responsibility of planting trees and
sustaining them. The plantation brought
changes in the living environment. The Commissioner received best municipal
commissioner award for tree plantation (green
leaf award) for two years 2010 and 2011.
This is an acknowledgement of
successful tree plantation in Suryapet
Municipality.
LAKE WATER CONSERVATION
The water is most
important component of human habitation. The growth of agriculture, industrialization
and populations has increased the demand for water. The efforts have been made to store water by
building dams and reservoirs and draw water from wells to meet the need. Some countries have also tried to recycle
and desalinate (remove salts) water to
meet the water needs. The water
conservation has become the need of the day.
The most important step in the direction of finding solutions to the
issues of water is conservation because it is the right thing to do. The benefits of conserving water, It saves
water, it saves expenditure on water, reduction in interior water use, cuts
waste water flows, especially overflowing of gutters which contaminates the
environment. The environmental benefits
it improve the eco-system and habitat protection, water conservation helps in
improving the quality of drinking water.
The past decade record shows that the Suryapet
Municipality has faced shortage of rainfall. The Suryapet has three lakes viz.,
Saddal Cheruvu, Choudary Cheruvu and Pulla Reddy Cheruvu with large water
bodies, the three lakes are in contiguous.
The water flows from one lakes to the other lake in the downstream. The lakes collected less water, the lakes
dried. The dry lakes were misused, encroached, sullage water entered into the
lake beds. The polluted water has seeped into the ground. The lakes
were neglected, the water taple has gone down.
The area has become dry, the open
well dried up, the dry areas contributed to increase in warming the
surrounding of Suryapet. The ground water has fluoride content, the
shortage of ground water has further increased the intensity of fluoride. Due to shortage of water people used the
ground water for multiple purposes viz., domestic and non domestic uses and
suffered from the harmful effects. The
water problem mounted in Suryapet Municipality during the summer period. The municipality received multiple
calls and representations and the municipality always found difficulty to meet water needs of the growing population.
The Municipality
planned to solve the water problems one
of the area needed intervention was lake water conservation. The municipality envisaged steps to store rain water in the three lakes and conserve the lake
water. The municipality prepared plans
to build bund on the sides, to evict encroachment, build drain along the bund
to divert the sullage water. The projects were designed mainly to
protect the lakes from abuse, avoid encroachment, avoid sullage flow into the
lake. The plan facilitates additional road space for movement of traffic
and additional drains for easy movement of sullage and conserve lake water. The municipality submitted proposals under
the UIDSSMT scheme to the Ministry of Urban Development, Govt. of India, New
Delhi to converse the three lakes mentioned above. The plans sanctioned, the lake works are
executed, the efforts made for one of the lake viz., Saddal Cheruvu has been
presented below :
CASE – I :
Saddal Cheruvu :
Saddal Cheruvu is
located adjoining in Ward II in Suryapet Municipality. The lake water surroundings south side of the
municipality abutting the National High Way No.9. The lake use to supplly
water to the Suryapet Municipality. The
rainfall reduced, less water stored in the lake, lake was later used for
storing the Musi Project water for drinking water purposes to Suryapet
Municiality. The catchment of the lake
is disturbed by construction of new houses, musi water source was not a
dependable source, in these circumstances the lake remained dry for many months
in a year. The small quantity of water collected could
not be used for drinking purpose due to flow of sullage from new houses in the
catchment into the lake, the lake used for open defection, gradually the lake is abused and encroached.
Suryapet
Municipality planned for improving the Saddal Cheruvu and conserve water. The plan aimed at diverting sullage water,
sullage treatment plant, arresting encroachment, improvement of ground water,
plantation of trees in the catchment area, facilitate conserving the lake water
and improve the flora and founa in the vicinity. The project was sanctioned , Public Health
Department, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh executed the sanctioned project. As a first step in the execution municipality
tackled encroachment, it approached the district revenue administration to
remove encroachments. The district
officer and the municipal chairman and council members together helped the municipality to remove
encroachments and peacefully resettled
the dwellers.
The Public Health
Department executed the bund in 2011-12, the bund length was 1.2 kms., width 25
feet, see Fig. No. 7, Saddal Cheruvu
lake with water in the month of May, 2012 see Fig. No.8, The
bund is built and opened for traffic see
Fig. No. 9, drain along the bund 1.2
kms., see Fig. No. 10. The new drain is
connected with the drains coming from
the catchment area and the by lanes. The municipality built public toilet
adjoining the bund to control open deification, it planted trees along side of
the bund. The municipality surveyed the
catchment of the Saddal lake, identified institutions pursued them
to plant trees. The institutions responded and planted, Edga Premises 10,000 trees, Sneha
Nilayam 2,000 trees, Aravindaksa College
2,000 trees and Loyala College 2000 trees, viz., Teak, Neam, Peapal, Equiliptus, Badam and
Mango etc. The municipality convinced
the dwellers in the neighbouring localities to plant more trees and improve greenery,
the dwellers responded and planted trees. The water
Fig. No. 7 – Lake Bund Fig. No. 8 - Saddal
Cheruvu Lake
conservation
effects made by Suryapet Municipality received support from the elected
representatives, NGOs and people.
The observation of
the Saddal Cheruvu lake indicated that the plantation in the catchment helped
to increase the rainfall. The lake is
naturally filling with the rain water from catchment, the water is stored
throughout the year. The lake no more required
water filling from Musi Project. The
bund work is giving new look to the lake, the new drain along the bund is carrying
away the sullage, preventing the sullage flow into the lake.
Fig. No. 9 – Bund used for traffic Fig. No. 10 -
Drain along Lake Bund
The impact of the programme could be seen in
multiple areas viz., water quantity increased, the lake is full, water is
conserved, the quality of the lake water improved. The water is neat, constant storage of water in
the lake lead to growth of ground water taple.
The storage of neat water
improved the quality of ground water.
The lake observations in the
month of May, 2012 show us that the Lake
water is conserved, the conservation facilitated water prevalence in the lake throughout
the year. The record indicates that all
the 176 bores dried in the month of
December, 2010, in the year 2011 bores
78 dried, whereas in May, 2012 only three bores dried in peripheral
areas. The field observation indicate
that the water in the bores are prevalent throughout the summer. The
increased ground water diluted the fluoride and the fluoride contents reduced to
the permissible level. The impacts of
fluoride effects on the human body reduced.
The test of bore water around the Saddal Cheruvu indicated that the E
Coli is in permissible quantity, it
is not detectable in some of the bores.
The physical conditions of the lake indicated the presence of moisture
in the soil facilitated speedy – growth the plants. The water body beatified
the surroundings. The ecological balance
which was disturbed for a long time in
Suryapet is slowly balancing by the Saddal Cheruvu Lake water
conservation. The water body in the
lake controlled heat waves and
contributed for reducing heat during summer.
The people of Suryapet felt the pleasant
whether. The lake water given
the growth of Flora and founa in the vicinity.
The lake conditions facilitated growth of varieties of fish and new
acquatic birds. The natural conditions
facilitated increase in sparrows and
other birds, honeybees etc. The
above results are scientifically proved.
The Suryapet
Municipality is now planning to beautify the lake and bund by introducing
decorative plants, arranging railing and sitting benches along the bund
etc. These facilities will further add
recreational facilities in Suryapet
Municipality. The Municipality is mobilizing
the doners to contribute material for recreational purposes, people are
responding to the proposals. The
municipality planed to approach Andhra Pradesh Tourism to introduce boating facilities in the lake to future
upgrade the recreational facilities. The
water body with recreational facilities shall upgrade the quality of urban
living in Suryapet.
PRO-POOR POLICY FOR WATER
SUPPLY
There is need for supplying the potable water
as per the national standard. The government has been supporting the potable water supply
scheme in the ULB. The
ULBs have been following the national guideline to supply portable
water. Every house needs water tap, the
economic reasons compelled the poor households in the ULBs to remain out of the
water supply coverage. The poor are
drawing water from the Public Stand Post PSP and bore wells. The poor are not able to draw necessary water,
they spend time, money to collect water and are compelled to live in distress
condition. The poor households should
get water at an affordable price. The quality of water will ensure more productive days of work, reduces poverty reduces the disparities among
the people, saves time and energy. The
house with a tap is always a priority for the poor dwellers.
Suryapet
Municipality has faced shortage of water supply, it has planed and prepared
water supply proposal under the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for
Small and Medium Towns UIDSSMT. Ministry
of Urban Development, Govt. of India, New Delhi. The plan was submitted and the Ministry
sanctioned Rs. 36 crores to the UIDSSMT water supply scheme. The UIDSSMT agreement specified that adequate
number of connections should be issued to the users. The target for water connection in Suryapet was 5000, this necessitated the municipality to give
water connections to all the poor households.
The Suryapet Municipality
received the amount and executed the water supply scheme. The Suryapet Municipality water supply was 600
LPCD water, after the completion of the UIDSSMT scheme municipality is supplying 14 MGD to 12000
connections. The scheme extended pipeline to all the lanes in municipal wards covering backward localities, slums and
all the lanes inhabited by urban poor. The water lanes facilitated to issue new water connections.
The Commissioner & Director, Municipal
Administration (CDMA) Govt. of Andhra Pradesh has accorded high priority for
issuing more tap connections in a ULBs.
The issual of more number of taps
is cost benefit, the investment made and
water resource can be extended to more
people. On the other hand stoppage or
neglect of issuing water connections people may take unauthorized water tap
connections. These factors lead to
theft/leakage of water and causing reduction in the income to the
municipality. The CDMA directed ULBs to issue water connection to BPL family at Rs.1200/-
per connection in the 2004-05. The CDMA further instructed the ULBs to issue
water connections to BPL families at
Rs.200 per tap connection from the year 2008-09 on words.
Suryapet
Municipality followed the government guidelines on pro poor policy for water
supply. The municipality propagated the
solgan that you have a right to own a municipal tap and municipality also
offered to issue tap even in the case where the house is not on the applicant
name. The municipality strictly followed
the government norm of sanctioning a municipal
tap connection for Rs.200/-. The
municipality sensitized the poor household for the need for municipal tap and
offered tap on concessional rate. The
Municipal Commissioner has explained the 87 Slum Level Federations SLF members
about the concessional rate for municipal tap, and convinced them to take
municipal tap connection. This approach
sent message to all the urban poor in 870 SHGs to avail tap connection. The municipality formed special teams to
mobilize the tap connection applicants.
The municipality is normally taking 15 days time to give sanction for
tap connections, as a special case it
has sanctioned them in four or five days.
The municipality
has made a special arrangement to sanction municipal tap connections in
Indiramma Colony. The municipality fixed
a date 20-12-2010 and called all the households of the colony to take individual
tap connection. The municipal team consisting of the
Municipal Commissioner, Municipal Engineer, Accounts Officer, Public Health
Staff etc., assembled at the Indiramma colony received applications and
expedited the water tap sanctions. The
municipality called licensed plumbers for drawing the map of taps, masons and
plumbers to dig and lay water pipeline from mainline to the house and fix
tap. The residents approached the
municipal staff with their documents, got the help of licensed plumbers and
masons team to fix tap in the house. On
a single day municipality received 350 applications and issued sanctions to all
the applications in the colony. The applicants paid Rs.200/- fee for tap
connection. The municipality helped the applicants to get a tap connection at a
lowest cost. This has given the
confidence to the urban poor that the municipality is helping them in extending
essential services.
The number of water connections increased
constantly, the 14 MLD of water is supplied to 13885 connections in Suryapet
Municipality, the per capita cost reduced and the revenue is increased. The municipality issuing water connections to
meet the UIDSSMT scheme target. The monthly
100/- is charged for water connection for the general category people, Rs.80/- is charged for the BPL
category people. If the amount is paid
yearly once at a time the municipality is charging Rs.60/- per month to
the BPL family. The water is equally distributed among the
rich and the poor households. The
municipality is able to reduce the monthly tariff due to energy saving, and
other measures. The Suryapet
Municipality is the first municipality in Andhra Pradesh to reduce the water
tariff to the BPL family by Rs.20/-. The
number of tap connection to poor households increased and the dependents on
public stand post PSPs reduced. The
municipality gradually disconnecting the PSPs to plug the water leakages and
increase the quantity of water supply to
the tap connections.
The Municipal
Chairperson and the Council appreciated
the effort made by the municipal commissioner
in increasing the number of tap connections to the poor. The water facility to the poor increased
revenue to the municipality, saved time of the poor families, quality water
supplied, consumption of quality water reduced the water borne ailments and
improved the health of the women and children in urban poor families. The case of the beneficiary Ms. Jothi who received tap connection in pro
poor policy for water supply is explained in details in Case I.
CASE – I : Ms.
Jothi
Ms. Jothi, Age 39
years, hospital worker, resident of
H.Ho.469, Indiramma Colony, Ward No.22, Suryapet Municipality. Her family size is four, her house had
latrine and drain connection.
She has taken
municipal water tap connection, before the tap connection she used to draw
water from the open well in the neighbourhood.
She has taken municipal water connection for collecting the potable and
safe water. She expressed that the
municipality helped her in taking water connection. She has taken the help of the licenced
plumber and prepared the drawing for water tap connection, submitted the
application with Rs.200/- to the municipality.
She incurred Rs2000/- to purchase
water pipes, taps, made payment to the licensed plumber and mason to lay pipes and
installed water tap in her house. She expressed that the new water tap
connection in the house facilitated her to collect the required water in 15
minutes. She is regularly paying Rs.80/-
toward monthly charges to the municipality.
During the summer the quantity
water supply reduced, in normal months water quantity is sufficient. The water facility had positive impact, she
is able to save time, energy and receive the safe water. She acknowledged that the water facility
improved the convenience in the house, and the health of her family members.
ENERGY SAVING
Energy saving is one of the initiative introduced for improving the living
environment in Suryapet Municipality.
The municipality used electricity
for water pumping, street lighting and office purposes. The Suryapet
is in a hot zone, increasingly use of electricity is further
warming the environment. The municipality
had difficulties in using the
electricity regularly and had financial difficulties in monthly paying charges.
The municipality initiated energy
saving, the energy saving aimed to
improve the financial and physical conditions in the municipality.
The Commissioner & Director of
Municipal Administration, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh issued instructions in 2005
to adopt the suggested energy reforms in the respective ULBs. The ULBs are following the government
instructions, based on the instructions Municipal Commissioner initiated
activities. The Municipal Commissioner
deeply analyzed the existing conditions in Suryapet and identified areas to
introduce changes and save energy. The
first step in the energy saving process was identified the municipal staff and trained
them in energy saving. The main
activities focused in energy saving are (1) streamlining the electricity use, (2)
timely on and half of street light system,
(3) Replacing tubes light (4)
using electronic chock for tube lights, (5) using capacitors for electricity
pump. The Commissioner placed the
proposal before municipal council, the
council sanctioned the proposals. The
municipality purchased capacitors from the market at Rs.4500 to 7500 and
installed to the pumping motors. The
Commissioner deployed staff to monitor the capacitors, the Power Factor value
is maintained, the amps consumption is constantly observed. The human resource is also regularly
monitored to maintain a proper record of consumption of electricity units. The following activities are introduced to
save energy in water supply and street lighting system in Suryapet
Municipality.
Energy saving initiatives in
Suryapet Municipality
Water Supply
The
municipality introduced following activities (1) fixing capacitors, (2) direct
pumping, (3) gravity and (4) discontinuing power bores
1)
Fixing
of Capacitors :
·
Fixing
of capacitors to motors, P.F. value of system improved
·
Saved
the energy about 32% and money is saved
through this initiative.
2)
Direct
Pumping :
·
Proposed
to do in single stage by installing the higher stage pumps, i.e., 125 H.P.V.T.
Pumps.
·
It further saves a lot of energy and money.
3) Gravity :
·
Introduced
proposal for gravity distribution of water and save energy.
·
The same
is expedited and started, leading to saving energy and money.
4) Power Bores :
·
Power
bores are constant drain of energy and revenue
·
Municipality
discontinued the power bore wells and saved a lot of energy and money.
Street Light
The municipality
planned for total replacement of the
heavy lights with Light Emitting Diode LED lights, the LED lighting gives more
light with less energy. The Suryapet Municipality
submitted proposal for 1.04 crore to New
and Rechargeable Energy Development Corporation NEDCO Hyderabad for implementation
of Energy Efficient Lighting Devices and LED Street Lighting systems in place
of conventional lights under
50 : 50 sharing basis. The details are as follows :
#
|
Description of existing Lamps
|
Description of proposed EELDs/LED
street lights
|
Nos.
|
Unit Cost in Rs.
|
Total amount in Rs. (lakhs)
|
1.
|
Metal Halide Lamps 250W
|
LED 90W
|
185
|
12000/-
|
22.20
|
|
Metal Halide Lamps 400W
|
Induction Lamps 200W
|
11
|
9000/-
|
0.99
|
|
T8 FTLs 48W
|
LED 20W
|
2571
|
2600/-
|
66.84
|
|
T8 FTLs 48W
|
T5 FTLs with tube
|
1000
|
1000/-
|
10.00
|
|
Installation and other charges
|
|
|
|
04.13
|
|
Total :
|
|
|
|
104.16
|
The NEDCO approved the project and sanctioned
Rs.50,000/- for the project and the remaining amount to be borne by the
municipality. The sanctioned works are initiated.
The municipality share amount was pooled from
the following sources.
#
|
Name
of the Scheme
|
Amount
( in
lakhs)
|
Remarks
|
1.
|
BRGF
|
9.00
|
Already
sanctioned
|
2.
|
Municipal
General Funds
|
12.50
|
Already
sanctioned by Municipal Council
|
3.
|
13th
Finance Grants 2012-13
|
28.50
|
Presently
proposal is
Submitted
|
|
Total :
|
50.00
|
|
The
following activities are introduced in street light system to save energy viz. (1)
sun synchronization, (2) Standardization, (3) Electronic Chocks, (4) 3rd
wire for street light poles.
1) Sun
Synchronization :
·
Adjusting
street light according to the sun light
·
Dimming
street light after reduction of traffic movement
2) Standardization :
·
SOL
: As per the standardization chart
supplied by Beareau of Energy Effeciancy BEE,
municipality discontinued use of higher wattage luminaries.
·
Alternate
lighting of higher wattage of lights installed and saved a lot of energy and
money.
3) Use of
36 W Tubes or 28 W Electronic Chokes :
·
Suryapet
Municipality has purchased only 36 watt tube lights.
·
It saves
about 4 watts for each tube light.
4) Installation of 3rd Wire :
·
Municipality
has dismissed all direct street light connections and installed 3rd
wire for street lights with the help of electricity department, with this arrangement more energy is saved
daily.
5) LED Lighting :
·
Action
is taken for establishing LED lighting under 13th Finance Commission
Grants
·
The LED lights are
saving the energy.
NEDCAP
helped Suryapet to take up above works
as per the sanctioned project.
The municipality strictly monitored
the operation of on and off of the street light system, municipality daily used
to stop street light at 6.00 am, now they are stopped at 5.30 am i.e. half an hour before the old
timing and saved energy. The people also
cooperated to the changed time of street lighting and the alternative lighting
system. The Municipal Commissioner indicated the following :
·
The
changes are brought by training the
staff and moral boosting the staff to
save energy in the daily operation.
·
The
municipality is convincing private sector to save energy.
·
Impact
of saving energy is seen in less consumption of electricity and saving
financial resources for the municipality.
The municipality previously paid up to Rs. 15
lakhs monthly for water pumping, after
introducing changes municipality is now paying monthly up to Rs.10 lakhs, the savings was monthly 32% to 37% on water supply. The saving on street light is Rs.1.5 lakhs,
the total saving on energy is between Rs. four lakhs to Rs. five lakhs monthly. The Suryapet Municipality is one of the ULB
in the state to pay monthly electricity charges without delay, there are no
arrears to be paid to the electricity supplying company i.e., Central Power Distribution Company CPDCL. It has
avoided penalties and maintained good relationship with the CPDCL. The municipal commissioner expressed that the
stress which they faced from the CPDCL has reduced, there is lot of relief to
the municipal staff. The municipality is
planning to introduce the Energy Tracking System ETS. In the ETS system each tube light has a chip,
it is controlled through computer from a central place. The on and off can be operated timely, sun
synchronization and dimming can be made through ETS to save more energy. The proposal indicates energy can be saved up
to 60%. By using the proposed solar
energy for all the energy uses the electricity from CPDCL can be further
reduced. The impact of saving energy is
seen in less consumption of electricity and saving financial resources for the
municipality. The saved amount is used
for prompt payment of municipal staff salaries and initiating the development
activities.
SOLAR ENERGY INITIATIVES
What is solar energy
Solar energy is
the energy received from the sun that sustains life on earth. It is also an economical source of
energy because it is freely available, after years of research
it is possible to harness solar energy.
Some of the modern Solar Energy systems consist of magnifying glasses
along with pipes filled with fluid.
These systems consist of frontal glass that focuses the sun’s light, the energy drawn from this source can be used
for multiple purposes. The solar energy can save large amount of gas/energy and financial
resources.
Solar Energy Facts
Solar Energy is
already being successfully used in residential and industrial settings for
cooking, heating, cooling, lighting, space technology, and for communications
among other uses. With fossil fuels
making major impact on the environment and raisisng issues of pollution and
global warming, solar energy has increased in its importance to industries and
homes. While the reserves of fossil
fuels are restricted, there is no limitation to the availability of solar energy.
With improvement in solar energy technology and the increase in prices of
fossil fuel, solar energy is gradually becoming more and more affordable. The basic components required in the solar
power system consists of a solar panel, battery for storing all the energy
gathered during daytime. The energy
policy of India is focusing on developing alternative sources of energy particularly nuclear, solar and wind energy.
The government has allocated Rs.10 billion towards the Jawaharlal Nehru
National Solar Mission and the establishment of clean energy fund. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
(MNRE) Govt. of India, New Delhi main objectives are to generate electricity
through renewable sources like wind and solar on decentralized manner. The
MNRE New Delhi encouraging ULBs to apply for solar city project for sanction of
funds.
Solar Proposal
There are few ULBs which have
planned to tap solar energy to meet energy needs, Suryapet Municipality in
Andhra Pradesh State is one of them. Suryapet Municipality solar energy initiatives
are explained below. Suryapet Municipality is using electricity power for
multiple activities viz., (1) Water pumping from head source (2) street lighting
(3) office purposes etc. The electricity
supply is frequently interrupted, the water supply and street light services
are effected due to break in electricity supply. The municipality planned to tap the solar
energy and reduce the use of the electricity.
The use of solar energy fights against climate change and global warming. It also reduces the electricity charges and
facilitates timely release of the municipal services viz., water supply and
street lights.
The municipality
planned for solar city, the special officer of the municipality called for
meeting of all political parties, NGOs, press representatives in Suryapet and
explained the aims and objectives of the solar energy initiatives for Suryapet
Municipality. Suryapet Municipality prepared a solar city project proposal for Rs. 5.00 crores. The project
cost is shared between the Suryapet Municipality Rs. 2.5 crores and Govt. of
India Rs. 2.5 crores. The project
proposal contains change of street lighting system, change of electrical
municipal water pumping motors and introducing alternative utilities for
pumping and use the energy for municipal vehicles movement. All parties in Suryapet agreed and expressed willingness for the project, the
local MLA issued letter of appreciation.
The municipality submited the solar city
project to the MNRE, New Delhi,
the proposal is under consideration. The
details of the Suryapet solar city proposal is given below.
Solar City Proposal –
Suryapet Municipality
Activity Plan and Budget
Amount sought
from MNRE as per the provision of
scheme
|
2.50 Crores
|
Amount to be
contributed by proposing agency
|
2.50 Crores
|
Action Plan
for utilization of funds
|
1.Change of
pumping motors
2.Change of
street lighting
3.Vehicles
4.Offfice
Street light florescent lamps converted to 12 watts Solar
LED lamps
Solar
utilities
|
Time period
for preparation and submission of Master Plan to the Ministry after
sanctioning of the proposal
|
1 month
|
Any other
information
|
|
The Suryapet
Municipality share of Rs.2.5 crores is pooled with solar utilities/material
worth of the share amount as per the project proposal. The municipality initiated awareness
programmes on use of solar energy to the municipal councillors,
non-governmental organizations and citizens. The municipality invited the
leaders in solar activity i.e., ANDRO
MEDA Hyderabad and New and Renewable Energy Corporation of Andhra Pradesh,
(NREDCAP) Hyderabad to propagate and demonstrate the solar energy use and
sell solar products in Suryapet. The Kalpana
Enterprise in Suryapet is selling solar
fans, Solar lanterns and related equipments.
The Municipal Commissioner mobilized 1000 people to purchase solar
utilities and material which would be
worth of Rs.2.5 crores. The Municipal
Commissioner convinced the hotels, hostels and institutions to use solar
energy. The Municipal Commissioner issued
instructions to the staff to purchase solar equipments for domestic use. The Municipal Commissioner convinced the
bankers to issue loans to individuals to purchase solar utilities and solar invertors. The solar invertor cost Rs.30,000/-, beneficiary
share Rs.4,200/- bank loan Rs.25,800/-.
The monthly loan instalment is Rs.250/- which is equivalent to the
amount saved on energy. The Suryapet is
facing four hours power cut daily during summer, to meet the power cut solar energy
is more suitable and essential, it is cheaper than the diesel machine generated
power. The bankers are responding and
issued loans for 160 solar invertors.
The
municipality also convinced the 870 SHGs & 87 SLFs to use solar
equipment. The political parties, NGOs
and the banks are cooperating to meet the target proposal. The response from the people increasing, they
are purchasing solar utilities.
Regulatory measures are taken on adoption of energy conservation and
renewable energy devices : GoAP has made
it mandatory to use solar energy in all the apartments vide G.O.No.302MA,
Dt.03-08-2004 & G.O.Ms.No.506MA, Dt. 03-12-2004. The same is under implementation, it is made mandatory for every new apartment
to use energy saving devices & renewable energy. It is made part to Building permission.
The Initiatives taken in energy
conservation/renewable energy by the private sector :
1.
Suryapet Municipality initiated
a programme for each employee have to purchase one solar light
2.
15 Solar lanterns are arranged
to poor people through NED CAP on subsidy.
3.
2000 Solar lanterns are sold to
staff of other departments & people in the town.
4.
500 solar fans are purchased
and installed in Suryapet town.
The NGO’s are motivating the town people about solar lighting
benefits and energy conservation. The
shops are selling the solar equipment/infrastructure. The Maram Junior College hostel management
purchased solar equipment for cooking purposes, the case of Maram Junior
College is presented below.
Principal, Maram
Junior College, Suryapet expressed that their management is influenced by the
Suryapet Municipality improving living
environment initiatives. The management
decided to use the solar energy for cocking purpose. The Junior College provided hostel facilities
for 170 borders. The Junior College
approached Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank APGVB for seeking loan. The Bank sanctioned loan for solar cocking
equipment. The management purchased solar
investor and solar cocking equipment, solar panel, pipes and boilers etc., for Rs.67,000/- The
solar equipment is given five years warranty.
The cooks have adjusted to the solar cocking system preparing breakfast, lunch and dinner for the
hostel borders. The management indicated
that the solar cocking process is less hazardous, time consumption is less and
it is cost effective. The solar
equipment is functioning with the 25 degrees Celsius temperature, this degree
of temperature is prevalent thought the year even on a rainy day. The management saved energy, gas and it also
saved amount, see solar cooking system fig. No.11 and fig. No.
12.
Fig. No. 11 – Solar Kitchen Fig. No. 12 – Solar
Kitchen
The Municipality
has enough expertise in solar energy,
head of town planning wing is responsible for installing of solar utilities in all the new buildings,
Sanitary Inspector is responsible for installing solar utilities in commercial
establishments. Municipal Engineer is
responsible for implementing the solar project and installation solar equipment
in municipal office and water works, etc.
The town president of all parties would be members of local expert
group. The Hon’ble MLA would chair the
expert group. All the Banks, core
department such as Revenue, Commercial tax, Registration, Transport are involved
in solar city project for better results.
PLASTIC CONTROL
The plastic
control is one of the activity initiated to improve the environment. The government
has put a complete ban on the use of any type of plastic. The Indian laws on plastic use are covered
under the Environment Protection Act 1986, which has provisions for punishing
the offender with five years of imprisonment, up to Rs. 1 lakh or both. The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC)
has been empowered to implement the ban and register complaint against
violators. A special inspection team has
been formed by the DPCC which will initiate punishment. With no particular deadline to enforce the
ban, the Indian law on plastic use are enforced liberally. This allows people sufficient time to quit
the use of plastic bags and opt for substitutes such as jute or paper bags.
The urban
areas are facing issues eminating from the
use of plastic. The marketing of goods, eatable items are
increasing day by day in all the urban areas.
The people involved in marketing are using plastic material/carry bags
to pack the goods/food items. The
customers are accustomed to caring the purchased goods/food items in plastic
carry bags. The low quality plastic
carry bags used in the sale of items are thrown into the waste, they remained
as an insolvent in the solid waste material.
This kind of plastic is remaining either in the street corners or in the
dump yard. It takes several decades for
these plastic items to mix in the soil.
The plastic bags/material used for packing/caring food material has
several side effects, hot food (example
(a) tea/coffee (b) hot food items tiffins, rice, curry and samber etc.) packed
in low quality plastic bags releases dioxin. The effects are disastrous it forms ulcer,
effects on mind, generates cancer fluids.
The plastic when burnt lead to the following problems; (1) leads to unwanted heir in women (2) lung problem (3)
creates obstacles in reproduction system in male and female , (4)
decreases productivity. There was no
planed efforts to propagate the bad effects of the plastic, the plastic use has
now become part and parcel of urban life.
The traders and people are invariably involved in using the plastic in
the daily use.
The field observations show that the
Suryapet Municipality is facing issues related to plastic. The municipality made conscious effect to
control the daily use of plastic. The municipality convinced the school
management and organized sensitization classes for the students. The children are thought to refuse plastic
products/bags and convinced them to use alternative material cloth bags, paper
bags, leaf etc. The Kirana Merchants are convinced to lesson
the price of goods if the purchaser brings his own bag to carry the products. The tiffin hotels are convinced to reduce
Rs. Two on each item if the purchaser brings his own carrier box/bag to carry
the food items. The municipality
convinced hotel management to place banner in all the hotels to propagate the
message. The Udipi Hotel in Suryapet
introduced banana leaf instead of a plastic sheet, now other hotels are also
using of leaves. The shop keepers are
procuring banana leaves from Rajhumundry. The Municipality brought 2000 banana plants from kadiyam nursery and distributed to
the households with a condition to use the leaves.
The municipality made two important
efforts (1) control the use of low
qualaity plastic (2) promote
alternatives to plastic. In the first method
municipality introduced ban on selling the plastic bags less than 20
microns. The municipality formed
special team for vigilance and control on sale and use of plastic in the
municipality. The teams raided the
market and identified shops selling banned plastic bags, identified the persons
using plastic bags especially the street vendors, fruit merchants and vegetable
venders etc. The municipality collected fines from the users of banned
plastic products. The municipality collected
a lakh of Rupees as fine from various salesmen.
In the process Municipal Commissioner was pressurized and influenced not
to be harsh in collecting fines from salesman.
The municipality received resentment from the traders but the
municipality was firm on banning the sale of plastic carry bags. The Suryapet Municipality encouraged SHGs to
prepare self employment projects to recycle the plastic and producing granules
by using machinery. The SGHs are responding to the proposal.
In the second aspect municipality
organized jute bag making & paper bag making training programme under Skill
Training for Employment Promotion for Urban Poor STEPUP to the SHG
members. The municipality is making
efforts to procure the jute bag making machinery for the trained candidates and
submitted proposals under the Community Participation Fund CPF. The municipality also pooled cotton bags and
freely distributed them to facilitate people to use them regularly and avoid
use of the banned plastic bags/products.
The Lions Club
organized classes and educated children
in 30 schools on plastic eradication,
the role of municipality, citizens and student in plastic eradication. As part of campaign the Lions Club organized
essay writing competition for students on the topic “plastic pollution control”. The best essays five were selected among
the competition and prizes were awarded on 26-01-2012. This process facilitated the students to
think deeply, understand the subject and carry the message forward, bring
changes in their attitude towards use of plastic. The caterers in Suryapet
expressed that they are influenced by the efforts made by the municipality in
plastic control. They have stopped using
the plastic cups, plastic papers and plastic plates in their catering service.
The Municipal Chairperson expressed that the
above process minimized the plastic on roads, street corners and in
drains. The observations in Suryapet
indicated that the 50% of plastic usage has decreased, consequently the plastic
waste also reduced. The plastic waste is
collected to a major extent and the collected waste is sold in the market. The above efforts have brought down the
damages caused by the plastic in Suryapet.
The plastic free lanes are contributing to the improvement of the living
environment.
The
municipality has faced limitations in
the process of reducing plastic usage The business promoters are still
encouraging the use of plastic bags for promoting sales although it is banned.
The Municipal Commissioner suggested that the cost of plastic carry bags
should be increased to discourage traders to use them. The customers should
also strictly discourage the use of banned plastic bags.
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
The quality of the
living environment in urban areas is based on the effective management of solid
waste. The local bodies have primary
duty of collecting and disposing solid
waste. The
waste was disposed in bins located in streets, the waste stagnated in bins for several hours/days
emanating small and odor. The waste bins are source of contamination and a source of
germinating diseases. The field
conditions in Suryapet show us that the city is located on flat surface. The drain water movement is slow on the flat
surface, drain with solid waste particles further slowed down the sullage
movement. In some of the lanes sullage
is stagnated, these problems are perennial in Suryapet Municipality. In view of the circumstances the waste
management in Suryapet is a sensitive
activity. The Municipal Commissioner
introduced new method of collection and disposal of solid waste in Suryapet.
The municipality
purchased new site for 8.5 Acres of land for dumping yard of solid waste, the
site is located at a distance of 8.5 kms from Suryapet. The municipality built three sheds on the
site, the first shed is used for processing the dry waste, second and third
sheds are used for processing wet waste and preparation vermi compost. The municipality is using 15 tractors and
four autos, these vehicles are allotted routes and time covering all the wards
in the municipality. The vehicles daily collect waste and are making two trips
per day to the dump yard to dispose the waste.
The municipality engaged 268 women workers, (93 municipal workers, 175
outsourced/SHG workers) in the management of solid waste.
Municipal Chairman, Suryapet Municipality
expressed that the Suryapet Municipality is located on flat surface, open drain
are filled with solid waste/Plastic particles, the drain flow slowed down. The former Municipal Commissioner Sri Khader Saheb introduced segregation of solid
waste at source into dry waste and wet waste. Municipal Chairman on his own distributed 5000
baskets free of cost to the households in Suryapet to facilitate segregation of
wet waste and dry waste and avoid disposal of waste on street corners.
The households are
educated to segregate the waste at source, the households are segregating solid
waste into wet waste and dry waste. The
wet waste consists of kitchen waste, food waste and perishable items. The dry waste consists of paper, plastic,
cardboard, dust, debris and other non perishable items. The municipality fixed time for the municipal
vehicle movement in each lane/ward for collecting the waste, accordingly
vehicles covered the lanes, people are handling over the two waste baskets to
the municipal vehicle. The municipal
vehicle are receiving the two baskets of separated dry waste and wet waste from
households, unloading then and returned the baskets. The vehicles are transporting the waste and disposing the dry waste and wet waste at the municipal dump
yard. The households have learnt the new
method of disposing the waste and cooperating with the municipality. The old practice of disposing the waste in municipal dust bin located in streets was discontinued,
the dust bins are removed in Suryapet Municipality. The segregation of waste at source minimized
the problems caused by solid waste in the drains.
The municipality daily
collected approximately 60 tons of waste and disposed at the dump yard. The municipality engaged nine workers posted
them at the dump yard to segregate the dry waste into four different categories
viz., (1) paper, (2) cardboard, (3) plastic bottles, (4) plastic covers see
Fig. No. 13, 14 and 15. The
municipality called tenders monthly
Fig. No. 13 – Dry
Waste
Fig. No. 14 – Segregation of Dry Waste
from
the purchasers and sold the four categories of waste. The approximate price
received by the municipality for category wise waste is as follows : (1)
Paper is packed into 50 Kgs., bundles sold at Rs.3/- per kg., see Fig. No. 16, (2)
Cardboard/carton boxes sold at Rs.4.50 per kg., (3) Plastic bottles sold at
Rs.4.00 per kg., (4) Plastic covers sold at Rs.3.50 per kg. The unused solid waste is approximately 20%,
it is disposed in the open dump yard.
The municipality entered into contract for 20 years with Hemashree Power
Project to produce power out of the remaining unused solid waste. The project is in process of establishment.
Fig. No. 15 –
Separated Dry Waste Fig. No. 16 – Paper
Bundles (50 kg.)
The Suryapet
Municipality is collecting the wet waste, the wet waste is dumped at the yard
see Fig. No. 17 and 18. The
municipality is using two sheds for processing wet waste into the compost
manure. The wet waste is processed,
pulverized in the machine and digested, the processed/digested wet waste is put
in compost beds located in the shed see
Fig. 19. The wet waste is converted into
manure by using earth warms. The
water is sprinkled on the wet waste beds, the warms convert the wet waste into
manure in the compost process. The
process is completed in approximately 45 days time, the process is fast in
summer season and it is slow in
Fig. No. 17 - Wet Waste at Dump Yard Fig. No. 18 - Wet Waste at Dump Yard
rainy season.
The municipality is producing three tons of wermi compost manure every
month see Fig. No. 20. The vermi compost
is sold at Rs.5.00 per kg. in the local market.
The municipality
initiated sensitization classes on solid
waste management in 26 schools in Suryapet.
These classes focused on the role of people in solid waste management,
cleanliness and health, adapting the new method of solid waste management. The role of individuals in up keeping the
living environment. The students are
explained about the damages caused by
solid waste, the scope of recycling waste, generating wealth out of waste, managing solid waste, income out of waste and
improving the living environment. The
students are convinced to pool dry waste like paper, plastic bottles/paper,
plastic covers and sell them monthly, gain income and buy a book. These initiations had its own impact on the
children and the parents in solid waste management in Suryapet.
The field
observations indicate that the people in Suryapet adopted to the new practice
in disposing solid waste. The people are
sensitized and are sensitively segregating the solid waste at source and cooperating with the municipality to
dispose the solid waste. The political parties, NGOs and civil societies
have facilitated to the adopting new system of solid waste management in
Suryapet. The new practice of solid waste
disposal has avoided waste stagnation on streets. The removal of dust bins minimised the health
hazards existed for several years. The
new practice of waste management contributed for improving the living
environment in Suryapet Municipality.
Fig. No. 19 – Composting Wet Waste Fig. No. 20 – Compost
Mannnure
BIO-ERADICATION OF
MOSQUITOES
Mosquito control
is one of the initiative in improving the living environment in Suryapet. Mosquitoes
are generally considered annoying and they transmit diseases such as dengue, yellow, malaria and
filariasis etc. There have been a
variety of human efforts to eradicate or reduce the mosquitoes. The mosquito control reduces mosquitoes to
minimize their damage to human health, economies, and enjoyment. The mosquito control is a vital public-health
practice throughout the world and especially in the tropics because mosquitoes
spread diseases. The mosquito-control-operations
are targeted against three different problems, 1) Nuisance mosquitoes bother
people around homes or in parks and recreational areas, 2) Economically important mosquitoes reduce
real estate values, adversely affect tourism and related business interests and
negatively impact live stock or poultry
production, 3) Public health is damaged when mosquitoes are vectors or
transmitters or infectious disease. The mosquitoes are controlled by using the
following methods.
General methods
The method of
mosquito control is selected based on the situation. The methods of control viz., source
reduction, bio-control, larviciding (control of larvae) or adulticiding (control of adults) etc. The techniques are accomplished using habitat
modification, pesticide, biological-control agents, and trapping etc. Since many mosquitoes breed in standing
water, source reduction can be simple by
draining water stagnating around the home.
Bio-control
“Bio-control” is the biological method of reducing the
mosquitoes. There are several types of
biological control including the direct introduction of parasites, pathogens
and predators to target mosquitoes. The
effective bio-control agents include predatory fish that feed on mosquito
larvae such as mosquito fish (Gambusia).
Oil drip
The oil drop method is used, in this method
oil is dropped on the surface of water/sullage pools. The oil forms thin layer on top of the
surface and prevents mosquito breeding in two ways (1) mosquito larvae in the
water cannot penetrate the oil film with their breathing tube, and so drown and
die, (2 adult mosquitoes do not lay eggs on the surface of oiled water.
Suryapet Municipality has
peculiar geographical conditions. The
houses are constantly using water, the sullage from the houses are entering
into the open drains. The sullage flow
in the flat drain is slow, the sullage
constantly standing in different locations.
The stagnated sullage is an ideal ground for breeding mosquitoes. The mosquitoes are constantly breading, the
mosquitoes caused menace, the mosquitoes ménace was prevalent in Suryapet
through out year. The people used
mosquito coils and other repellents to control the effects of mosquitoes. The mosquitoes survived on human blood,
causing different kinds of infections viz., malaria, yellow, dengue and fileria
etc. These injections are proved costly,
the injected suffered in multiple ways viz., sickness developed, hospitalized, loss of
productive man days. The mosquito affects
on children are more in the form of loss of education and energy etc.
The municipalities which have faced
the problems of mosquitoes adopted spraying poisonous chemical/gases to
eliminate them. The Supreme Court issued
directions to ban spraying chemical to control mosquitoes. In view of the Supreme Court decisions
municipality stopped spraying chemicals in municipal wards. The people also objected to the practice of
spraying chemicals in the municipal areas.
The municipality had to search alternate method for controlling
mosquitoes menace, Suryapet Municipality selected Bio-Eradication method to
control mosquitoes. The Municipal
Commissioner deeply studied the method of Bio-Eradication of mosquitoes and
adopted the process in the municipality.
The Bio-Eradication method is adopted with the following objectives. (1) Eradication of mosquitoes in a
biological way, (2) Protecting the environment by arresting poisonous gases by
preventing the use of coils and mosquito killing chemicals, etc., (3) Controlling
of mosquito related deceases and ensuring the health and fitness among the people, 4) Valuable
money of people was saved by protecting
them from diseases.
The Municipal Commissioner has
prepared the Gambusia Fish proposal to eradicate mosquitoes and placed the
proposal before the Municipal Council.
The Council accepted the proposal and sanctioned Rs.10,000/- from
municipal fund. The municipal council cooperated in execution of the proposal. The municipality used the sanctioned amount
and purchased the Gambusia Fish from Fisheries Department at Rajender Nagar,
Hyderabad/Medchal, R.R. Dist., Andhra Pradesh.
The Fish is brought in plastic bags packed in cardboard cartons see Fig. No. 21. The cartons are brought in a jeep to the
Suryapet municipality. The fish size is
less than a centimeter, fish brought to
Suryapet was released in the identified
areas, water/sullage pools, see Fig. No. 22. The fish servived in the pools on its own by consuming mosquito larva. The
sanitary staff observed the fish constantly and monitored the bio-eradication of mosquitoes. The sanitary staff constantly collected the public
opinion on movement of mosquitoes and the effects of mosquitoes from different
words and take necessary steps to intensify mosquito control activity, see Fig.
No. 23. The municipality also using the
oil drop method in some of the lanes to
control mosquitoes where sullage stagnation is more.
Fig. No. 21 – Gambusia Fish Fig. No.
22 – Gambusia Fish into Pools
The municipality
also advocated the use of Addasaram plant, the Addasaram leaf works as a repellent
to the mosquito. The municipality has
supplied 5000 Addasaram Plants to the houses in the words where mosquito menace
is more. The people received the plants
and planted them in their houses see Fig. No. 24. The
plants have given relief from the
mosquito problems. The water logging is
constant in some of the areas in Suryapet Municipality. The municipality also advocated the use of
Banana plants in water logging areas.
The Banana plants have the nature of absorbing moisture in the soil and
reducing wetness in the soil The
municipality supplied 2000 Banana plants, the residents received them and
planted in their premises. The Banana
plants minimized moisture in the soil and restricted the mosquito breeding in
these areas.
The municipal notes indicated that (1) In the initial days after leaving of Gambusia
fish people expressed that 40% of mosquitoes have decreased,
(2) After 6 months of the initiative the Vruksha Yagnam (NGO) has intimated
that 90% of mosquitoes have decreased compared to the year 2010, (3) The Dengue cases were reported only 15
during the 2011 year, compared to 100 cases during 2010 year
(saved the valuable money and resource of
people) 4) The local shop owners reported that sales of mosquito coils, smoke bolls has been considerably decreased. The
above are the indicators of decrease in mosquito population in Suryapet.
The observation in the Suryapet town indicates
the municipal effort, field staff supervision, people’s cooperation, together
minimized mosquito menace. TheBio-Eradication
of mosquitoes method proved to be effective in Suryapet. The people are
relieved from the mosquitoes
menace. These measures are contributing
to the improvement of the living environment in Suryapet Municipality.
KITCHEN GARDEN
Kitchen
Garden is one of the initiative introduced for improving the living environment
in Suryapet. The Municipal Commissioner closely monitored the implementation of
Urban Poverty Alleviation UPA through Mission for Elimination of urban poverty
in municipal areas MEPMA. The NHGs
and SLFs are meeting regularly
and discussing social issues and
economical issues and are finding solutions to the problems of urban
poverty. The population living Below
Poverty Line are facing severe issues related to respiration, malnutrition, the
children among them are worst sufferers.
The blood samples indicated that they have developed several
deficiencies for lack of consumption of sufficient vegetables. In the process
of discussion the NHGs have identified the issues viz. high incidence of anemia
in women and children. The reason found are
low level of food intakes, high cost of vegetable and pulses. The issues are brought to the notice of
Municipal Commissioner for solutions.
The municipal commissioner
discussed the issues and possible solutions, he found that the high incidence
of anemia can be controlled by intake of nutritious food. Therefore he planned to focus on developing kitchen garden in the house by involving the BPL
families.
Fig. No. 23 – Monitoring Gambsia Fish Fig. No. 24 – Addasaram
Plant
The municipal
commissioner called meeting on 12-01-2011 for organizing kitchen garden and
explained the process. The municipality
surveyed the seed market and selected climber variety of vegetables mainly to
suit local condition i.e., shortage of space in the BPL households. The climbers occupy less (3x4 feet) ground,
and spread on the top of the roof. The
climbers viz., bottle guard, snake guard and bitter guard plants give vegetables for a long period to meet the
needs of the BPL family. The
municipality also selected two varieties of leafy vegetables to balance the
deit and supplement the food. The Municipal Commissioner placed target of 5000 kitchen gardens proposal before the municipal council for
budget of Rs.10,000/-. The Municipal
Council responded positively, approved kitchen garden proposal and sanctioned
the budget from general fund.
The Municipal
Commissioner conducted a staff meeting and explained the process of
implementing the proposal. The field
staff were given responsibilities, each sanitary worker supervises 30 sweepers,
each sweeper covered the given target of houses for supervising the kitchen
garden activities. In this process all
the wards are covered under the
activity. The municipality contacted
Raghavendra Seeds, Suryapet and purchased vegetable seeds in bulk, packed then
in small pockets containing varieties of climber seeds and leafy vegetables, each pocket cost was fixed for Rs.10/- The municipality approached the NGOs to contribute to the kitchen garden proposal
and take responsibilities in covering
the houses. In addition to its seeds the municipality collected
donations of seeds from organizations viz., Anjali School, Bavita Junior
College, Dr. Bumi Reddy etc. The
municipality decided to issue seeds to BPL families in 50 slums at 50% subsidy
cost. The seeds were distributed through
the 87 SLFs covering 870 SHGs in all the wards.
The municipality also supplied vermi compost at Rs.2/- kg., to
strengthen the kitchen garden.
The municipality
pooled plants viz. munuga, curry leaf, amla, coconut, popaiah, plamoganite
plants which contribute vitamins and
control vitamin deficiences among women and children and distributed to the
households. The beneficiaries used the
kitchen garden seeds and planted the
plants which they received, some of the households purchased plants of their
choice and planted them in their premises.
The people are conscious, they are using their land for vegetable production,
land is optimally used for kitchen garden see Fig. No.25. The beneficiaries have received vegetables
from the kitchen garden and used them in cooking meals. The plants are planted, they are growing, the curry leaves, papaiah,
palmaginite have given the benefits, the
munuga and amla are in the process of growing. These plants have introduced greenery in the localities, the beneficiaries are taking care of the
plants with interest.
The BPL families in the slum areas were
covered intensively. One of the
localities effectively covered under the kitchen garden is Indiramma Colony. The beneficiary Sri Yadagiri covered under kitchen garden is
selected for case study presentation.
Fig. No. 25 Kitchen Garden
Case-I - Sri Yadagiri :
Sri Yadagiri resident of H.No.1156, Indiramma Colony,
Suryapet. He is working in a Local
Bakery. His family size three members,
with two adults and one child. He
expressed that he was aware of kitchen garden and he is decided to make kitchen
garden in his premises. He expressed
that the kitchen garden is safe, vegetables are organically produced,
vegetables produced in the house are qualitatively high and good for human health. The municipality taken initiative and
supplied him variety of vegetable seeds viz., snake gaurds, bottle gaurds,
bitter gaurds and leafy vegetables. He
also procured seeds of tamata, bringal
and sown then in the kitchen garden, some of the plants had short life and some
had long life. In addition to the
seeds the municipality also supplied the
plants viz., curry leaf, munuga, popaiah,
he received then and planted then in his limited space with a
expectation of reaping fresh vegetables and fruits. He used the piped water and bore water to the
kitchen garden.
He received
vegetables from kitchen garden during month of August to February, vegetables
from his source are used twice or thrice every week by his family. He saved amount from purchasing costly
vegetables. He expressed that the
kitchen garden had impact in multiple ways viz., timely availability of
vegetables, availability of quality
vegetables, consumed fresh vegetables, the vegetables minimized the
nutritional deficiency. He has expressed
that he produced vegetable seeds for the next season, he is planning to
cultivate kitchen garden in a organized way to gain more benefits.
The kitchen
gardens have given the relief to the BPL households from the high cost of
vegetables. The extent of relief
differed from house to house, it is based on the care taken by the beneficiary
on kitchen garden. The municipality and
households are looking forward for organizing the kitchen garden in more useful
manner. The municipality is planning to
bring more households under the coverage of kitchen garden and increase more
leafy vegetables for the benefit of BPL women and children.
HERBAL PARK
Suryapet Municipality
initiated plantation on a large scale to improve the environment. With the experience of planting multiple type
of plants, the municipality further planned to take up herbal plantation. The herbal plants have medical value,
they can play a effective role in
controlling various types of ailments at low
cost. The presence of herbal
plants increase the access and
facilitate their usage to the community.
The Municipal Commissioner contacted persons
having experience in herbal plants, elicited information on the nature of
plants, selected important varieties of herbal plants, and the source of
plants. He also convinced the plant donors to contribute herbal plants, the
commissioner pooled the herbal plants.
The municipality selected Indira Park Venue for herbal plantation. The Indira Park was misused, municipality
built a compound wall around the park, cleaned the park and planted the
selected varieties of herbal plants.
The list herbal
plants planted in Indira Park, their name and their medical use are as follows
: (1) Addasaram – used for mosquito
control, (2) Vatti Veru – used for body
purifier, (3) Satavari – used for ladies
ailmenents/old age problems, (4)
Ratnapuri chattu– used for liver activation, (5) Vasi – used for resipiratary/tongue/speech
therapy, (6) Lenan grass – used for oil
extraction, used in perfumes, (7) Parapala – used for kidney ailments/diabatic
control, (8) Vavilla – pain killer, (9)
Arjuna – used for heart diseases, (10) Sabja – used to control body odor, (11)
Nalleru – used for bone diseases, (12) Sallisamaria – used for bone settings,
(13) Channangi
–
used for cloistral control, (14) Krishna Tulasi – used for anti infection. Apart from above list of plants the following
unique and important plants are also planted viz., (1) Night queen flower, (2) Parijatham
flower, (3) Shanka Puspa flower, (4) Macha patri (5) Devaganeru, (6) Bilwan
Puja leave, see Fig. No. 26 and Fig. No.27 herbal plants in the Indira Park.
Fig. No. 26 - Herbal Park Fig. No. 27 – Herbal Park
The observation of herbal park
indicate that municipality provided water supply and posted Malli (gardener) to
look after the park. The municipal
permission is needed to use the herbal plants.
The field observation shows that all the plants that are planted are
surviving. The presence of herbal park
had given an opportunity to the Suryapet
people to know more about the types of herbals plants and their usage. The people understood the importance of
herbal plants, the park developed interest on the herbal plants. The people are purchasing herbal plants of
their choice and planting in their premises.
Impact
The above
discussion indicates that the municipal issues faced in Suryapet Municipality
are carefully analysed and municipality initiated suitable activities to
overcome the issues. The municipality
given importance to the issues based on the intensity of the issue. The activities initiated had their own
impact. The plantation, lake water
conservation, tap connection to the
poor, energy saving, bio-eradication mosquitoes, controlling plastic menace, improving solid
waste management improved the living environment. The kitchen gardens improved the health of
poor families. The initiatives have
complimented each other, they together have
improved the quality of living in Suryapet. The impact of the initiatives also have
brought changes in the surroundings. The
Suryapet temperature use to be nearer to the hottest places of the state, now
it is gradually decreasing. Another
significant observation in the environment
was minimum temperature in the state was lowest in Suryapet during the summer
2012. This is one of the major
achievements of municipality in the process of improving the living
environment.
Conclusion
The urban habitations are managed by
the municipal law’s, the municipal managers have financial and physical constraints
in implementing the municipal laws. The municipalities are neglected, they have
physical disorders. The Suryapet Municipality is one of ULB in
Andhra Pradesh State which had faced geological disorders agravating
environmental disorders. The urban
environmental problems, viz., neglecting tree plantation,
dried water bodies, solid waste
management issues, plastic menace, mosquito menace and electricity problems. The
urban environmental problems have further imbalanced the geological conditions
in Suryapet. These problems given rise to environmental issues leading to
climate change, shortage of rainfall and global warming etc. In addition to the environmental problems the
Suryapet has socio-economic problems of the BPL families and their low health
status. The identified problems needed
solutions, the municipality planned and introduced initiatives to improve
living environment. The initiatives viz., tree plantation, lake water
conservation, pro-poor policy on water supply, plastic control, solid waste
management, bio-eradication of mosquitoes, energy saving, solar energy
initiatives, kitchen garden and herbal park.
The municipality involved municipal council, political parties, NGOs and
citizens to deal with the environmental issues.
The each of the municipal initiatives had its own impact.
The tree plantation was initiated,
municipality pooled trees from various sources and distributed to the
institutions, the institutions received
and planted them. The
municipality associated the NGOs in tree plantation, The municipality and NGOs pooled
shade trees, medical plants, flower and nutritional plalnts from different sources and planted through
staff and the people. The plantation
made in and around Suryapet had its own impact. The plants contributed for
improving the greenery, the plants brought change in the environment and contributed
for improving the rainfall. The kitchen
gardens have further contributed to the greenery, the vegitables and fruits
were useful to the BPL households, they are improving the nutrition. The results are acknowledged by the peoples
representatives and the citizens. The
municipality also initiated herbal park, the park sensitized people about the
medical plants, people are responding and using the knowledge, procuring herbal
plants of their choice.
The municipal efforts of lake water
conservation was useful in multiple ways.
The UIDSSMT scheme provided resources, bund was built on the sides of
the lake to protect the lake, drain was built on the side of bund to divert the
sullage, tree plantation in catchment improved rainfall, rainfall facilitated
flow of more water in to the lake, the lake water is conserved. The presence of water in the lake throughout
the year improved the ground water. The fluoride content in the ground water
diluted, the E coli in the ground water is in permissible limit.
The municipality truly implemented
the pro-poor water policy formulated by the Govt. of Andhra Pradesh. The agreement in UIDSSMT scheme envisaged
giving more tap connections and cover
more households under the improved water supply. The scheme provided new water pipelines in
all the words, in all the slums and
backward areas. The government lowered
the fee charges of water connections to the poor families. The poor utilized the opportunity, and are
taking the household water connections,
The number of tap connections increased in Suryapet. The tap connection improved the convenience
in the houses of poor, the time spent for water collection reduced, tap water
improved the health of the poor families.
The municipality responded to the
municipal administration department guidelines on energy reforms and introduced
the suggested reforms. The municipality
replaced sodium vapor lamps which were harmful with eco-friendly lamps,
introduced electronic chokes for street lights and strictly maintained the
street light time and saved energy. The
energy saved resulted in saving amount, the saved amount is used for initiating
developmental activities and timely payment of staff salaries.
The municipality is using fossil
electricity, this electricity has lot of environmental effects, natural
resources are exhausted and causes global warming. The electricity supply is limited, the supply
is interrupting the water pumping and street lighting services. The municipality responded to the solar city proposal,
prepared the proposal for solar city and
submitted to the Govt. of India. The
solar energy fights the global warming.
The proposal is gaining acceptance among the political parties, NGOs and
citizens. The municipality is insisting
the builders to tap solar energy and use for common lighting, and water
heating. The municipality pooling its
share for the solar city proposal. The
municipality convinced banks to issue loans to people for purchasing solar
equipment and solar inverters. The solar
energy will save funds to the municipality, contributes to improve the living
environment.
The municipality faced problems
related to plastic, the use of low quality plastic had several health
hazards. The Govt. of India banned use
of plastic, municipality made efforts to control the use of low quality
plastic. It has convinced the traders,
the retailers and the people to avoid the use of low quality plastic carry
bags. It organized classes for the
students to explain the bad effects of plastic use. The municipality is making efforts to
propagate the use of leaf, cloth, and paper instead of plastic. The efforts made by the municipality has
reduced the use of plastic to a major extent, the efforts are continued to further progress
in minimizing the plastic use, reduce the health hazard and improve the
living environment.
The solid waste management is one of
the challenging tasks faced by the municipality. The municipality planned and introduced new
system of solid waste management, it has issued two baskets to each house to
segregate wet waste and dry waste source.
The municipality collected and transported the waste to the dump yard
and further segregated the dry waste into plastic bottles, plastic bags,
cartons, paper and sold the material to the purchases. The wet waste is pulverized and used for
preparing the compost manure. The
compost manure is sold in the market.
The new method of solid waste management facilitated dust bin free
municipality. The major portion of waste
collected is recycled, only a minor portion of waste is thrown in the dump
yard. The health hazards arised in the old method solid waste management have
minimized, the new method contributed to the improvement of the living
environment.
The municipality introduced new
method of controlling mosquitoes, it has selected a Bio-Eradication method
instead of chemical spraying method. In
the new process the municipality introduced Gamusia fish, the fish consumed the
mosquito larva and reduced the growth of the mosquitoes. The municipality also used oil drop method to
prevent the mosquitoes to lay larva on stagnating water and the growth of larva
into mosquitoes. The number of malaria,
dengue fever cases reported in the municipality minimized compared to the
previous years. The people acknowledged
that the number of the mosquitoes reduced and the mosquito menace reduced. The bio
method of controlling mosquitoes have contributed to the improvement of living
environment.
The new initiates introduced in solving the
identified municipal issues are yielding the results. The initiatives covered most of the areas for improving the living
environment and they also covered all
the sections of people. However, the
efforts need to be continued to sustain the results and attain further process
in improving the living environment. The strategy adopted in Suryapet for
improving the living environment is one of the
successful method adoptable in
all the ULBs. The intensity of the
environmental issues differed from the ULB to ULB, the state has to study the
intensity of the issues and suggest affordable solutions to achieve the desired
impact.
Reference :
1.
Tree Plantation, Ref.No.
22661/2011/U1 dated 26-6-2011, Chief Conservator of Forest, Govt. of Andhra
Pradesh, Hyderabad.
2.
Tree Plantation, RC No.841/2011-12/S2
dated 26-8-2011, District Forest Officer, Nalgonda, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad.
3.
Tree Plantation, Lr.No.
2856/2011-12 dated 07-9-2011, St. Xaviors High School, Loyala Nagar, Suryapet,
Nalgonda District, Andhra Pradesh.
4.
Lr.No. NI/1546/2011, dated 04-7-2011, Municipal
Commissioner, Suryapet Municipality, Nalgonda District, Andhra Pradesh.
5.
Suryapet UIDSSMT Proposal, RC
No.26/APUFIDC/UF/09 dated 27-8-2011, Managing Director, Andhra Pradesh Urban
Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation, Hyderabad.
6.
UIDSSMT Administrative
Sanction, G.O.Ms. 65, Municipal Administration, Govt. of A.P. Hyderabad, dated
17-01-2008.
7.
Water Connection Charges for
BPL Families, G.O.Ms.No. 303, Municipal Administration & Urban Development
(A2) Department, Govt. of A.P. Hyderabad, dated 03-8-2004.
8.
Revised Water Connection
Charges for BPL Families, G.O.Ms.No. 515, Municipal Administration & Urban
Development (A1) Department, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, dated
25-7-2008.
9.
G.O.Ms.No. 506 Municipal Administration, Govt. of A.P. Hyderabad, dated 03-12-2004
10. Plasticless Suryapet Pamphlet
issued by the Commissioner, Suryapet Municipality.
11. Municipal Commissioner Notes on bio-Eradication Mosquitoes in
Suryapet Municipality 2011-12
12. Installing LED Street Lighting, NEDCAP consent
Lr.No.NREDCAP/LEDSL/142/2012-13/461 dated 18-04-2012.
13. Releasing Funds for LED Street Lighting Suryapet Municipality Lr. No.EI/13
UFCG/1365/2012 dated 08-06-2012.
14. Guidelines for Solar Cities, Lr.No. 5/10/2010-11/ST, Ministry of New
& Renewable Energy, New Delhi, dated
24-11-2011.
15. Solar City Suryapet
Municipality proposal , MCS No.658, date 24-03-2012.
16. Mandatory to use solar energy in all apartments G.O. No.302, dated
03-08-2004 and G.O.Ms.No.506 dated 03-12-2004, Municipal Administration, Govt.
of A.P., Hyderabad.
17. Builders are sanctioned with a condition to use solar power, Proc. No.H/638/11/2011 dated
18-02-2012, Proceedings of the Commissioner :
Suryapet Municipality, Nalgonda District, Andhra Pradesh.
18. Kitchen Garden proposal, MSR No. 413 dated 12-01-2011, Suryapet Municipality,
Nalgonda District, A.P.
19. Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment – Award to Suryapet Municipality, DO No.HSMI/CPD/Best
Practices, 2012, HUDCO, New Delhi, dated
19-04-2012.
20. Initiatives of Suryapet Municipality, Urban Connect, Vol.-II, Issue
6, Dec., 2011. Published by APUFIDC,
Hyderabad.
