“I was taught source segregation in my school and we practise it there regularly. At home, I don’t. Nobody in my family does. My friends know about it, but I’m sure their families don’t follow it too. It’s not customary,” said a Class X student of a private school, residing in the Tamil Nadu Housing Board unit at Royapuram under Zone 5 of the Greater Chennai Corporation.
According to data from the Corporation, in the first fortnight of September, regular door-to-door collection was done in 87% of the 21,21,466 houses in all 15 zones. And 75% of the waste collected was segregated at source. However, the reality is different. Conservancy workers say it is they who separate dry and wet waste, and not residents.
