THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The waste collected by the city corporation during its mass cleaning drive programme held early this month is still piled up in many circles due to opposition from people.
The plan to bury it was thwarted due to people’s opposition and heavy rain that hit the state. The six-day cleaning drive was organised to collect and clear wastes from all 25 circles within the corporation. The corporation had organised the drive with the support of lorry and earth mover owners’ (JCB) organisation to prevent the outbreak of monsoon-related diseases.
However, only 70 per cent of wastes could be cleared due to the disagreement from the public over burying it. “Around four loads of wastes were collected from Manacadu circle as part of the drive. As per the instructions from the corporation, four lorries were allotted for this circle but only one vehicle carried the load. We were informed that it was not possible to clear the first load as people in that area opposed burying of waste in the site selected by the corporation,” said Ajith V T, Manacaud Health Inspector.
A review meeting will be held on Friday wherein the health staff will decide on a solution, said Ajith.
The leftover waste is now being cleared by dumping it in aerobic bins after segregating plastics from the collected garbages. As the bins installed here has only a capacity of 4X4 and the waste once dumped in the bins take 90 days to decompose, it becomes difficult to clear the bulk waste soon, he added.The heavy rain which hit the city on August 15 was another reason that hindered the campaign. “Though we were able to clear the garbages from few circles, but by afternoon due to heavy rain the work had to be stopped,” said T Alexander, corporation health supervisor.
My waste my responsibility
The corporation follows the decentralised method for waste management which also includes ‘My waste my responsibility’ scheme. According to this, the collected waste will be segregated into three broad categories, organic waste, inorganic waste and sanitary waste. Recyclable waste goes for recycling.
“The management of waste is not possible by the corporation unless the public cooperates with us. Instead of opposing, the public should support the installation of aerobic and kitchen bins in their locality. A large pile of waste is seen dumped in those areas where there is no aerobic bin facility. The corporation is ready to collect the non-biodegradable waste and treat it separately but the citizen should help in treating the biodegradable waste,” said A Sasikumar, Corporation health officer.
My waste my responsibility
According to ‘My waste my responsibility’ scheme, the collected waste will be segregated into three broad
categories, organic waste, inorganic waste and sanitary waste. Recyclable waste goes for recycling. The Corp has been following the decentralised mode of waste management.