On the 23rd of October, Keystone Foundation with support from HCL Foundation distributed safety gear (gumboots, gloves, and face masks) to 100 Sanitary workers in the Kotagiri Town Panchayat. The distribution took place at the Kotagiri Town Panchayat Office in the presence of Mr. Mani, Executive Officer and Mr. Ranjith, Sanitary Inspector.
The importance of wearing safety gear while handling various household and commercial waste was highlighted by our young community water stewards Monisha and Sowmiya. For more than two years now, our community stewards have been interacting with sanitary workers in the town areas and collecting data at the village level. Through these activities and observations, they’ve estimated that 50% of households in the Kotagiri town panchayat do not segregate their household waste.
Despite various awareness programmes by the District Administration which include the provision of biodegradable and non-degradable waste (village level), and face-to-face interactions with people – improper disposal of waste still remains a major problem. Littering and open dumps in urban spaces have increased over the past few years around various tertiary roads. This has made their job even harder. Occupational hazards such as physical injuries (glasses, broken bottles, etc) are something that they often suffer from during the collection and separation of garbage.
Proper segregation is the foremost and vital part of waste management which involves a myriad of processes such as transportation, dumping, recycling and treatment. These processes would be inutile if household waste is not managed appropriately.
Many studies online indicate that in urban and town areas, the average generation of waste per person has always been on the rise. Hopefully, extensive, continuous efforts and consistent messaging can enhance public awareness of waste-related problems that sanitary workers are forced to tolerate.
By Gokul Halan
