THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Government is all set to amend the Kerala Municipal Act, 1994, including stringent provisions to ensure enforcement of Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. At present, solid waste management is handled as a subsection in the clause relating to health in the Act. The plan is to add a detailed clause for solid waste management with subsections comprising rules for enforcement and penalty provisions complying with the 2016 rules.
According to officials, the local self-government department has almost completed the formulation of the amendment, which will be presented before the state government within a couple of weeks. Recently, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) severely slammed the government in a case related to non-compliance with solid waste management rules and expressed disappointment at not taking steps to resolve the widening gap in the solid and liquid waste treatment.
“The Kerala Municipal Act came into effect in 1994 and we need to bring in an amendment in the Act to ensure effective implementation of the rules. The concept of waste is not well defined in the KMA and our aim is to introduce a new chapter in the Act,” said an official of the LSGD.
Kerala generates around 3,472 tonnes of solid waste per day, of which 781 tonnes are not processed as per norms, a report submitted by the state government to the NGT revealed. “There are separate stringent rules for disposing of various categories of waste -- solid, plastic, liquid, medical waste, hazardous, construction and demolition, and electronics. The new amendment will detail all these components,” said an official source.
The proposed amendment will also have provisions to mitigate public resistance relating to waste management. “Land acquisition for setting up facilities for waste management often faces public resistance and protest. To resolve this, we are considering adding a clause which offers relaxation in property tax, employment opportunities and infrastructure development to the affected parties,” said an official.
Besides, LSGD is planning to add separate clauses for source-level segregation of waste, an effective mechanism for user-fee collection, and ease the procedures of bringing in new bylaws related to waste management for effective enforcement. “The municipal authorities are struggling to bring in new bylaws because of the time-consuming procedures. The new amendment will include provisions so that bylaws can be framed and implemented immediately,” the official added.
It is learnt that the amendment is essential for the implementation of the Rs 2,300-crore Kerala Solid Waste Management Project (KSWMP) funded jointly by the World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).