PALAKKAD: Even as the Brahmapuram incident dominates headlines, three health inspectors of Palakkad municipality have shown that ‘little things’ can significantly reduce waste and help ensure a clean environment.
The three are senior public health inspector Riazul Rehman and public health inspectors P Satheesh and N Suresh Kumar. Pooling money out of their own pockets and through the contributions of their colleagues, the three purchased 250 pairs of steel plates and glasses to distribute them free of cost to families who wish to use them for functions, including marriages and funeral ceremonies.
The aim was to eradicate plastic and the consequent pile of non-degradable garbage. Explaining the decision to introduce the steel plates and glasses, Satheesh said, “Once in Puthur, we found a lot of plastic and food waste dumped on the roadside. We inquired if there was any function in the vicinity recently and zeroed in on a house where a death ceremony had just occurred. We imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 for the offence. But the family was so poor that they were unable to pay anything. They pleaded before us to at least reduce the fine. It was so heartbreaking. It was then that we decided to supply free steel plates and glasses to anyone in the ten wards of my division.”
Senior public health inspector Riazul Rehman said, “We wanted to increase it to 500 steel plates and glasses when two of us got promotion transfer. While I was transferred to the Cherpulassery municipality, Satheesh was posted in Mannarkkad.” “Once we cut down the use of plastic plates and cups, a lot of waste generation could be avoided,” Suresh said. We distribute the steel plates and glasses through the Haritha Karma Sena. Festivals, thronged by thousands, generate a lot of waste.
Therefore for the Mannarkkad pooram, which took place last week, we decided to direct the caterer, Sajith, to avoid plastic leaves and disposable cups for the “annadanam’, and he readily agreed. Since plantain leaves for a crowd of over 1,000 people were hard to get, Sajith went as far as Coimbatore to buy them, Satheesh said.
Given the success of the initiative, we plan to introduce it in the next division and gradually to the whole of the municipal area, said P Smithesh, the chairman of the health standing committee of Palakkad municipality.