THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Until a couple of decades ago, a huge pit was a common sight in the backyard of every household in the city. Every day, it received all bits and pieces of leftovers from the home, leaving the roads, water bodies and drains free from the garbage parcels and piles, as we see now. However, burgeoning population and rapid urbanisation literally reduced the concept of extended space in homes and the rising apartment culture has made matters worse.
The City Corporation, in a modified way, is now trying to bring the old system back into practice by propagating kitchen bins, which were introduced during the ‘Ente nagaram sundara nagaram’ sanitation campaign of the previous council. During the campaign, 2,000 kitchen bins were installed. They have been widely used in the wards of Vanchiyoor, Chackai and Kalippankulam. As per plans, this method is to be made mandatory in all 100 wards of the Corporation.
“A campaign will start soon to ensure that each ward has a minimum 300 households with kitchen bins installed. It is a participatory programme, where the residents’ associations and councillors have to work hand-in-hand and take it forward. The more the number of households, the civic body will entrust an agency to do the management part and also collect plastics,” said Mayor V K Prasanth.
The kitchen bin works with a coir pith-infused bin. Garbage is layered over the inoculum-mixed coir pith cake, which is again topped with another layer. Not generating stench, it can be kept in a limited space. The Corporation would charge a sum if the bin is to be provided by the civic body towards maintenance cost.
By endorsing the method, there is also a plan to promote organic farming at the household-level.
The civic body plans to distribute required materials such as grow bags by joining hands with agriculture firms and produce required saplings and seeds under it. To tackle houses with too much scarcity of space for cultivation, the Corporation will extend a hand by taking the manure generated from the kitchen bin mechanism and do the farming on its own in the spaces available with it such as Erumakuzhy in Chalai, which is now a major trash dump in the city.
The next step is to convene councillors of all 100 wards for a meeting and discuss the possible ways of carrying out the campaign.
Next step
Convening councillors of all 100 wards for a meeting and discussing the possible ways of carrying out the campaign, likely to be held later this month or in early January. By endorsing the method, there is also a plan to promote organic farming at the household-level. The civic body plans to distribute required materials such as grow bags by joining hands with agriculture firms and produce required saplings and seeds under it.
The more the number of households, the civic body will entrust an agency to do the management part and also collect plastics— V K Prasanth, City Mayor