KOCHI: Keralam will be transformed into a zero-waste state, with model waste-management plants, including waste-to-power facilities, established within the next two to three years, Chief Minister V D Satheesan said on Thursday.
He was speaking after inaugurating the state-level ‘Nirmalam Puthuyuga Suchithwa Keralam’ campaign at North Paravur. Led by the Local Self-Government Department, the campaign aims to strengthen waste management and ensure public participation in keeping the state clean.
“Lakhs of Malayalis living abroad strictly follow waste-management systems and do not even throw a candy wrapper or tissue paper on the road. The same culture of cleanliness should become a habit here,” Satheesan said.
Keralam should become a state where waste is not littered in public spaces, he said. With e-waste, chemical waste and other new forms of waste increasing, people would be given awareness on their scientific disposal. Local bodies would coordinate the collection and scientific treatment of waste that cannot be processed at source.
“Waste is not waste; it is wealth. Society should adopt this perspective,” he said.
Local Self-Government Minister K M Shaji, who presided over the function, said ‘Nirmalam’ was not a temporary campaign but a five-year mission to make Keralam among the cleanest states. “Waste management begins at homes, not local bodies. Children should be taught to keep their surroundings clean and segregate waste instead of being focused only on examination marks,” he said.