THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After Kochi, the Thiruvananthapuram City Corporation is gearing up to set up container material collection facilities in the state capital to manage tonnes of non-biodegradable waste collected daily by the Haritha Karma Sena members.
Ever since the strengthening of door-to-door collection of non-biodegradable waste as part of the Malinya Muktham Nava Keralam campaign began, the lack of adequate infrastructure for managing and storing tonnes of collected waste has become a serious issue for the civic body.
It is learned that the Haritha Karma Sena is collecting around 16 tonnes of non-biodegradable waste daily. According to official sources, the civic body has achieved 81 per cent coverage in the capital in terms of door-to-door waste collection. The exponential increase in the quantity of waste collected has prompted the authorities to scale up infrastructure for managing the waste collected from households and other establishments.
A top official of the civic body told TNIE that the plan is to procure 12 containers to set up material collection facilities in various parts of the city.
“The quantity of waste collected has increased exponentially and we are not getting timely pick up from the service providers. We have tied up with two service providers at present. Sometimes they come only once a week to pick up the collected non-bio waste leading to accumulation,” said the official.
At present the civic body is trying to manage with mini MCFs which have become accumulation points in many parts of the city.
According to officials, containers are easy to install and require only a very small space for setting up. “Containers are cheap, and it will cost around `28 lakh to procure 12 containers. We are purchasing them at scrap rate but the transportation cost will be huge. We can always sell them and will get the same scrap value always,” said the official.
The official said that the civic body has invited expressions of interest for roping in more service providers to ensure timely movement of collected non-biodegradable waste. “We will be setting up more facilities in every ward for managing biowaste,” the official added.