THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After creating much buzz in the capital, the garbage-processing mobile incinerator was handed over by Suchitwa Mission to Clean Kerala Company, which now holds its ownership. Kottayam will get the next turn to try out the incinerator, which will be rolled from Kottakkal municipality, where it is now stationed, after receiving the government order regarding bearing of operational expenditure.
The supervision and the task of moving the machine from one local body to another rests with the Company. The Thiruvananthapuram City Corporation has not demanded the machine so far, ruling out speculations that it would make a return to the city.
“The machine was verified by a technical expert entrusted with the task by the Company who found it expensive. So, it is best suited to manage emergency situations instead of meeting day-to-day needs. Hence, only on getting a final picture regarding how the cost is to be managed - shared by the government and local body - the decision on moving it to another place will be taken,” said Kabeer B Haroon, MD of Clean Kerala Company Limited.
One more test will be done by the PWD mechanical wing on the machine to find the ratio between the fuel consumption and garbage-processing capacity. When the machine is moved to the place where it is to be operated, a one-day trial run will be carried out, following which PWD has to do another inspection and keep a log book.
Meanwhile, Clean Kerala Company and Chintan Sales in Gujarat, who manufactured the machine, will enter into an Operation and Maintenance (O&M) agreement, based on which the latter has to perform annual maintenance for two years.
In the queue demanding the services of the incinerator are Kalamassery, Kasargod and Ponnani municipalities. In Thiruvananthapuram, the machine had landed in a controversy as it incurred high expenses on consuming too much fuel and did not perform up to the expectations to process the waste generated here.