Chennai banks on user pay model to SSaroj Kumar Chennai, Nov 28:It'stimetousherin auuser pay policy (UPP) in the public private partilership (PPP) contracts of solid waste management projects tohelp entrepreneurs getreturnson investment, said Bobby E Kurien, head-integrated environment ser- vices, Ramky Enviro Engineers. Speakingatthe CIisummiton PPP, hesaid: “In the idea of PPP there isa need for fourth 'P’. In other words, there'saneedforapublic-payingmod- el to ensure the success of the PPP ventures.” Onhow common citizen wouldbe amenable to UPP when planning commission estimates thatper capi- ta income of an average Indian is around Rs32a day, headded: “Wehad overcome it by adopting differential pricing model. When Guwahati mu- nicipal corporation had shown a green light to our proposal to collect. user fees in our Integrated Solid Waste Management(ISW) project, we levied as low Rs 20 and below on houses and collected as high as Rs 500 from food joints and shopping malls that were more than happy to part with the monthly user charge for the diligent removal of solid waste in and around their premis- es.” Kurien added: “We have collect- ed user fees even from slums and squatters and below poverty line families. However, it'sdifficultto col- loctuser fees from majority of hospi- tals that generate biomedical waste.” Divulging more on the downside of the PPP in solid waste manage- boost PPP-based waste managment _ ment, Kurien said noneof the royal- ty-based projects, wherea portion of revenueearned is demanded as roy- | alty by the municipal government, | has taken off. Coming down heavily onthepoliticalandpublicattitude in opposingmodernsanitarylandfills, | he said while the common refrain of apoliticianis“notinmytenure”,cit- | izen's caveat is “not in my back | yard”. Sounding sceptical on theset- ting up of waste-to-energy plantsas_| ause case against the need for more | land fills, the. senior official of | Ramkay said solid waste pellets when compared to other fuel like | coal has lesser calorific value in ad- dition to the high cost of per unit power production. MG Devasahayam, managing trustee of SUSTAIN flayed the lack of political will and bureaucratic nonchalance in implementing the ISWM project in Chennai. ISWMisa comprehensiveprocessof disposing solid waste management without posing hazards to health and envi- ronment. “Chennai was first to con- ceive the idea in 80s, but somewhat missed the ISWM bu: id.