CIVIC ExNoRa

CIVIC ExNoRa
@ 2010 www.exnora.in All Rights Reserved
ORIGIN
The primary or golden objective of ExNoRa was to generate ideas. As the acronym suggests, these ideas were to be EXcellent NOvel and RAdical (ExNoRa). The second objective was to create civic and environmental awareness among the citizens. And finally, ExNoRa wanted to provide a service to the public, which would turn these excellent novel and radical ideas into practice. ExNoRa's last objective of practical dimension, which offers insight to the prospects of decentralising the provision of civic services to NGo's / private sector.
When the Corporation choose to experiment with hydro containers at Kamaraj Avenue. Adyar, Chennai, ExNoRa got involved in the collection of garbage. For the Corporation's experiment to be successful garbage should have to be placed directly into the hydro containers so that Corporation workers could later mount them directly on trucks.
These hydro containers were made available at the end of every street so that the garbage could be dumped into it directly and not strewn in and around the dustbins. From here the containers would be hauled onto the Corporation trucks and taken to the dumping sites. The residents found it inconvenient to carry the garbage from their respective houses to the end of the streets for disposal. @ 2010 www.exnora.in All Rights Reserved
It was here that ExNoRa stepped into provide the practical alternative. The rag picker was responsible for much of the mess on the road so getting his co­operation would not only eliminate this problem but would also assure the rag pickers of a source of income.
Instead of rummaging through Corporation bins, the rag picker was officially designated the "Street Beautifier". ExNoRa took a loan from a bank to buy a tricycle cart and also paid the street beautifier a monthly salary of 650 rupees.
The street beautifier would come and collect the garbage every morning at 8.00 a.m. and thereafter sweep the street. In return, every household at Kamaraj Avenue contributed 10 rupees per month towards the salary of the street beautifier. The Civic ExNoRa movement was thus born from this experiment. After successfully working hand in hand with @ 2010 www.exnora.in All Rights Reserved
the Corporation at Kamaraj Avenue, Adyar, ExNoRa has used this model to promote the idea of community involvement in collection and transportation of garbage. The success of a Kamaraj Avenue illustrated two important points, that the co­operation of the public is desirable and that it is possible to work hand in hand with the rag picker.
Household contributions vary from one rupee to twenty rupees. The garbage collected is segregated and all the reusable materials are sold to scrap dealers by the street beautifier for recycling. This augments the street beautifier's salary. The organic wastes from several streets is taken to a common collection point from where the municipal authorities transport to the dumping yards. In this process, the work of municipal authorities is reduced, since the number of collection points are less.
Each Civic ExNoRa functions with an expenditure of around Rs. 15000 per month­inclusive of wages to street beautifier and maintenance charges for the project. @ 2010 www.exnora.in All Rights Reserved
The Chennai City alone having 2000 Civic ExNoRas would translate this Waste Management into a Rs. 30,00,000 turnover in the informal Solid Waste Management Sector per month and this would amount to a turnover of Rs. 3.6 Crores per annum.
The Waste Management of an area is under the purview of the local authority. ExNoRa has brought about the enactment of Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2000 through the Public Interest Litigation filed by ExNoRa in the Supreme Court. This has provided guidelines for municipal authorities to follow in waste management.
ExNoRa has helped local authorities through consultation as well as partnership to manage Zero Waste Centers. ExNoRa through its hierarchies go to streets and initiate them into Civic ExNoRa's, Civic ExNoRa's have certainly made a difference to the quality of human settlements and the living environment to the people present within its coverage. @ 2010 www.exnora.in All Rights Reserved
IMPACT
1500 jobs created.
18 percent of garbage of Chennai city is collected per day.
SUSTAINABILITY
The adverse effects of the deteriorating environment on the health and hygiene of the common man towards these issues were a challenge that the Exnorans were ready to tackle. The basic premise with which Exnora began its operations was that community participation at all levels of functioning was essential to make their work a success. ExNoRan's work hand in hand with the governmental bodies and help supplement the latter's work rather than work in isolation. The sustainability of Exnora's work is very clear from the various case studies. The different case studies help to highlight that ExNoRa has been successful in encouraging the people to act on their own @ 2010 www.exnora.in All Rights Reserved
initiative towards creating any required change. The principle of community involvement has spread through the Civic ExNoRa movement. The advent of Civic Exnora's has led to a more effective system of garbage collection and disposal. Garbage is being collected and disposed in a more organised manner by households.
Greater awareness has been generated among the communities about the need for maintaining a systematic method for garbage clearance and removal. As a result, households in general are taking a more active role in keeping their surroundings clean. ExNoRa is also concerned with other special and environmental issues. Therefore it is initiated or supported activities towards creating a clean and green environment for all. Though the Civic ExNoRa's have responded well to tackle local community needs, there is still room for improvement.
Everyone needs to get involved, everyone's interests have to be determined so that the community based ExNoRa's can strive to meet them. The other factor, which must be kept in mind is to ensure the effectiveness of local institutions in a municipal set up such as Chennai and an interface between the citizens and the Corporation. It is important that ExNoRa provides its services. But for its efforts to bring about meaningful social change, it is necessary that these efforts are officially recognised.
@ 2010 www.exnora.in All Rights Reserved
The provision of urban services such as garbage collection and disposal by NGOs should become part of any strategy aimed at delivering services to the citizens of Chennai and especially the urban poor. @ 2010 www.exnora.in All Rights Reserved
INDICATORS
The impact of the project : Public participation The sustainability of the project : Regular garbage collection The success of the project : Clean Environment @ 2010 www.exnora.in All Rights Reserved
CONTACT
ExNoRa International ( Head office )
Ram Apartments (near Birla Software)
Flat No 2, Second Floor,
Old no.35 & New no.40, Vijayaragava Road,
T­Nagar, Chennai ­ 600 017.
Phone : 044 28153376
ExNora International (Arumbakkam office)
30 D Engineer Sampath Garden,
Land mark: behind Arihant Majestic Towers
Arumbakkam, Chennai ­ 600 106.
Phone : 044 24757070
Visit : www.exnora.in
Tele Fax : 91 44 4219 3595
E­mail : [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
@ 2010 www.exnora.in All Rights Reserved