Mechanism to manage e-waste in Dimapur formulated 

[caption id="attachment_229961" align="aligncenter" width="565"] DMC administrator Moa Sangtam (2nd from right) with the e-CIRCLE team members at Dimapur Town Hall on Friday, Jan. 25.[/caption] Eastern Mirror Desk Dimapur, Jan. 25: The Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC) and e-CIRCLE has collaborated to reduce and manage electronic waste or e-waste in Dimapur city. DMC administrator Moa Sangtam announced the arrangement at an event attended by the colony council members under DMC at Dimapur Town Hall on Fri. Jan. 25. e-CIRCLE is Nagaland's first authorised e-waste collection centre located at Diphupar in Dimapur. The group collects e-waste and transport it for recycling. It was officially authorised by the Nagaland Pollution Control Board (NPCB) on Sept. 17 2018. Sangtam said at the event that Dimapur generates huge e-waste as every household possesses mobile phones and other electronic items. Admitting that there was no mechanism to collect electronics waste in the city till date, he said the citizens should welcome e-CIRCLE’s initiative and discard wastes responsibly as the service is not only free but the group is also willing to buy electronic waste. Pointing out that e-CIRCLE alone cannot solve the problem, Sangtam said it’s the collective responsibility of every individual to avail the service and co-operate with the group. He informed the colony council members that a new criterion has been added for the 2019 cleanest colony competition to check e-waste and that the colonies would be divided into two categories -- small colony and big colony – to avoid the hitches involved in maintaining big colonies. The E-Circle team members told the colony representatives that e-waste comprises of electronic appliances or accessories that are rejected due to malfunction or outdated and that India is the 5^th largest generator of e-waste in the world, producing 2 million tonnes of such wastes per year. On e-waste management in Nagaland, the team pointed out that the consumers follow 'use and throw method' and most of them were not aware of its ill effects. There was little or no awareness on e-waste management by or among the stakeholders where wastes are burned, dumped or sold to scrap dealers. It said there is no data available on e-waste generated by the state but maintained that 6 tonnes of such waste was sent to Kolkata from Nagaland alone. e-CIRCLE will organise sensitisation programmes on e-waste management besides collecting such wastes from all colony every month. The group can be reached at contact@e-circle2018.com / E-Circle on Facebook.