A few months ago, the ward 173 of the Chennai Corporation started recycling the tender coconut waste inside its compost yard at MRC Nagar Main Road, R.A.Puram.
Since then a few tender coconut vendors from various parts of the city have been dropping the used coconuts here. And the RamKy conservancy workers are shredding them at a machine kept inside this compost yard.
For several months, the officials of the civic body said they were searching for a suitable buyer for the grind. Now, B. Praveen, a RamKy supervisor says that the grind obtained after shredding is used as a water retainer for the plants at the Corporation’s parks in Chennai.
“Our workers work from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day and generate around 500 to 1000 kilos of grind. The stuff obtained after shredding is now being used as a water retainer at the public parks. We also plan to use it as a composting agent at the decentralized compost structures at these parks,” he says.
But, Praveen says that many coconut vendors are yet to drop their waste here. The civic body has been urging all the coconut vendors, residents and hoteliers to use their own vehicle and drop their tender coconut waste at this place.
However, the coconut vendors feel it will be better if the conservancy workers had collected them. Says Raja, a tender coconut seller at Kutchery Road, “Our earnings are limited. We can’t hire a vehicle to transport the used coconuts in bulk. It will be helpful if the Corporation arranges for its collection.”
