KOZHIKODE: Barely a couple of weeks after the launch of the much-hyped ‘Clean Kozhikode’ drive of the Corporation, the city now wears a shabby look with piles of garbage on either sides of the roads. It seems that lack of coordination and foresightedness is what shattered Kozhikodens’ dream of a clean city.
Garbage disposal in the city has been affected badly owing to the unavailability of vehicles. The Corporation sanitation workers and Kudumbashree members, who have been entrusted with the task of collecting domestic garbage, are struggling without having enough vehicles to carry waste. As per the details available with the Health Department of the Corporation, of the total 76 vehicles, more than 36 are not fit for use. Hence, carrying collected garbage to the trenching ground has become a Herculean task for them.
“If the Corporation really wanted to do something to improve the sanitation of the city, they could have first made vehicles available for the sanitation workers,” says Civil Station councillor K Sathyanadhan. “Instead of going for a project with proper planning, they are confusing the people,” he says. Except a for few areas, garbage is seen on the roadside and deserted lands.
It was Health Standing Committee chairperson Janamma Kunjunni who presented the ‘Clean Kozhikode’ campaign in an emergency meeting to attain the goal of zero waste generation in the Corporation area by November 2015. The project was marred by criticism from the very first stage of its implementation. The Opposition councillors had alleged that the campaign was a political gimmick to lure voters.
“Garbage menace in the city is not going to see an end till the Corporation comes forward with some projects that are feasible. So far, they have come out with projects that can only hit the headlines,” says Amrith Nath, a citizen. Within a couple of weeks, the ‘Clean Kozhikode’ project has also proved that it cannot work any wonders here, he adds.
Meanwhile, Corporation Mayor A K Premajam says that the people should not be biased towards a project that has been launched with much enthusiasm. The campaign is a challenge, but at the same time, proper sanitation is possible here with the collective effort of the people and the Corporation officials. “I admit that it will definitely take time, but that does not mean that it is unfeasible,” she says.