The active work of Raghunandan Rao, IAS officer and Collector of Ranga Reddy district, in waste management, has led to Gandipet village being declared as a garbage-free zone. “With no designated landfill available, Gandipet village was converted into a trenching ground. This triggered the villagers to make it garbage free. Initially, they approached K.T. Rama Rao, who routed them to me through the then Commissioner of the Panchayat Raj. Impressed with the initiative, I had identified an allotted land to set up a composting unit, which converts wet waste to dry waste.”
After holding several discussions with concerned authorities, the land was allocated and work at the composting unit has begun. “Wet waste is collected from the surrounding 700 households and gated communities, who are then given back the compost in proportion to the amount of wet waste they had contributed. Now the zone is also plastic-free as vendors and households have switched to cloth bags.”
He further adds, “There were several challenges in the process, but ultimately the credit goes to the collective effort of the residents in transforming the village. Our role was merely to facilitate support.”
Buoyed by the response, the programme has now been extended to seven villages. “We have allotted 20 gts at Gandipet and now we have allocated 1.18 acres in Narsingi, 37 gts in Khanapur, 1.35 acres in Vattinagulapally, 1 acre in Gandhamguda, and so on, to replace the model.”
