THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finance Minister Thomas Isaac has announced Rs 5 lakh for panchayats for setting up septage plants. Speaking after inaugurating the Suchitwa Sangamam 2020 organised by the Haritha Keralam Mission, Isaac said that the panchayats should find land for the project on their own. The minister said that the Haritha Keralam has become a big project for waste management. He urged the mission to focus more on source-level waste management.
The local self-governments were asked to prepare plan for cleaning 10,000km canals in the state. LSG Minister A C Moideen said the suggestions and recommendations in the meeting will be codified and considered for preparing the future plans for garbage-free Kerala. LSG principal secretary Sarada Muraleedharan presented the action plan for the sanitation campaign. Haritha Keralam executive vice-chairperson T N Seema, Nava Keralam coordinator Cherian Philip and Suchitwa Mission director P D Philip spoke on the occasion.
Rapid action force
Experts who attended the seminars as part of the Suchitwa Sangamam called for forming a rapid action force for waste recycling. Systems based on extended producer responsibility is needed in waste management. The government should formulate guidelines for this, experts said. Kudumbashree COO Sajith Sukumaran called for improving wages and benefits for Haritha Karma Sena workers. There was a discussion on decentralised waste processing systems under the leadership of GAIA India coordinator Shibu KN. Other topics discussed included people’s participation at state and local levels and infrastructure development.
Associating with UNDP
The UNDP is associating with the Haritha Keralam Mission for waste management programmes. Meetings like Suchitwa Sangamam will propagate Kerala’s achievements across the country, said Isaac.