Solid waste management, one of the long-pending requirements of the city, will be given top priority at the Emerging Kerala Investors' meet, that will kick start on Wednesday.
The technology for the proposed solid waste treatment plants in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram is likely to be identified during the meeting. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who was in the city the other day in connection with the Emerging Kerala, too announced that waste management will be given utmost priority. “The primary aim of the government is to identify a proper technology for the proposed waste treatment plants. We do not have any successful models so far. That is why the government is planning to set up a state-of-the-art plant for managing solid waste. The move will also help win the confidence of the people who raise protests against the construction of the plant,” Oommen Chandy said here the other day.
The state government has already initiated the preliminary steps to set up a solid waste treatment plant at Brahmapuram. The existing plant is defunct and the new plant will come up on 10 acres of land which the government holds at Brahmapuram.
The Shuchitwa Mission had already initiated procedures for setting up a new solid waste treatment plant with a capacity to treat 500 tonnes of waste per day. It had also started the preparations to float a global tender soon. The pre-qualification assessment of the agencies has been completed and those qualified will participate in the tender for the construction of the plant, which will be built totally on a public-private participation (PPP) mode.
In Emerging Kerala, the focus will be on identifying a technology suitable for the local conditions. The stakeholders of city’s development are pinning their hopes on the meet, which is expected to present some of the globally-accepted technologies.