Machines defunct, fogging activities may take time

Though the civic body is gearing up to launch the pre-monsoon sanitation drive, the majority of the equipment used for fogging activities are lying defunct for the past three months.
For representational purposes (Photo | EPS)
For representational purposes (Photo | EPS)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Though the civic body is gearing up to launch the pre-monsoon sanitation drive, the majority of the equipment used for fogging activities are lying defunct for the past three months. Out of the 15 fogging machines, 12 are not operational.

Fogging activities are being delayed because of this. Senior council member and Palkulangara ward councillor P Ashok Kumar alleged that equipment is lying defunct due to lack of maintenance.

“The civic body is gearing up to roll out kitchen bin projects for households. In my ward, around 1,200 kitchen bins were installed and only 200 of them are functional. Also, there is no transportation facility to move waste, leading to accumulation of waste in the streets,” said Ashok. He said that the decentralised waste management plan is a total failure. 

“The workers are burning waste, causing severe environment pollution and the civic authorities are covering this up. Equipment is not being maintained, vehicles are not properly maintained and the majority of wards are in deep crisis,” Ashok Kumar added.  

An official of the corporation health wing said that low micron plastic has made an aggressive come-back post the pandemic. “The government took a stand in favour of the traders and promoted usage of plastic and other disposables during the pandemic to help them. This decision has derailed our activities to root out plastic from the corporation area. Now, all these plastic waste will end up in water bodies,” said the official. 

 Lack of coordination between the health wing and temporary workers is another issue. “Majority of the workers are part of unions and they don’t like obeying senior officers. They have the backing of political partie. Many health officials are scared to deal with them as they would create problems for the officers,” said a health official.

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