In a month’s time school students in the city will play a crucial role in managing the city’s mounting wastes.
The Corporation’s project to install biogas plants in schools across the city is set to take off in a month. The procedures and paper work have been completed and biogas plants will be installed from February. Under the project undertaken in association with the Suchitwa Mission, students will be trained to maintain and manage biogas plants in their schools.
“We have received the sanction to install biogas plants in 85 schools from the Suchitwa Mission. The installation will begin from February 13. The Rajagiri Outreach has been entrusted to visit each school to determine the size of the plant to be installed. In the meantime, students will be given training to manage the plants. The project has cost the Corporation about `55 lakh. The rest will be contributed by the Suchitwa Mission,” said chairman of the health standing committee of Corporation T K Ashraf.
A total of 85 schools, including government, aided and non-aided schools in Kochi Corporation, will be provided with the biogas plants. Apart from waste management at the source, the main attraction is the supply of free fuel for midday meals and for the school canteens; a significant step in the context of shortage of LPG gas supply under the Central Government’s fuel price deregulation policy.
“The production of biogas will depend on the size of the plant and the amount of biodegradable waste that is supplied to it. Larger the size of the plant, the more waste has to be supplied. If not, the bacteria in the plant will die and it will become nonoperational. Determining the size of the plant for each school according to the number of students in the school and the biodegradable waste generated is crucial for the implementation of the project,” said P K Alexander of Suchitwa Mission.
The project is set to bring about a substantial reduction in the waste generation in the city as all the waste produced in schools could be disposed of at the source itself.