THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : The World Bank has rated the progress of the Kerala Solid Waste Management Project, a WB-funded Rs 2,400 crore initiative launched in 2021, as ‘moderately unsatisfactory’. The project, which aims to strengthen the institutional and service delivery systems for waste management solutions by urban local bodies, has been rated as ‘moderately unsatisfactory’ in three categories - overall implementation progress, project management and project development objective.
However in three other categories - procurement, monitoring and evaluation and Financial management - moderately satisfactory ratings were given.
The beneficiaries of the project - urban local bodies - too are also largely dissatisfied with the progress and overall benefits from the project. As many as 93 urban local bodies in the state come under the scheme which aims to prepare solid waste management plan, awareness creation and capacity building and thus minimise environmental pollution.
LSG institutions too are voicing concern about the initiative owing to the inordinate delay. According to Thiruvananthapuram corporation officials, instead of promoting and strengthening decentralised waste management, which is the policy of the state, the KSWMP is proposing centralised facilities against the interest of local bodies.
“It’s been four years. KSWMP is yet to provide the promised draft plan for solid waste management following their field study and gap analysis. We have received only minor assistance in the form of safety gear for sanitation workers and some equipment, and there has been no significant progress in strengthening our decentralised waste management system.
KSWMP has also failed to deliver technological support. We are resource-crunched and strengthening us technologically and integrating the entire system into our Integrated Command and Control Centre would have been better,” said a senior official with Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.
The Adoor municipality is also deeply dissatisfied with the way the project is progressing. The municipality’s Health Standing Committee chairman Rony Panamthundil said the project was ineffective and non-beneficial.
“Despite giving Rs 4.9 crore, KSWMP failed to deliver its promises, including assistance with land acquisition. Apart from expectations, we didn’t get any solid grantS for waste management projects from KSWMP. We are a small municipality and without funds from state agencies we cannot strengthen our waste management system,” said Panamthundil.
Meanwhile, KSWMP officials said the project has gained momentum in the past six months, with a significant increase in committed expenditure from 4% to 14%.
“In the initial years, we were engaged in project preparation and planning. The projects were taken up based on the requirements of the local bodies. Hence, when we translate it into numbers, it will not reflect much in the total expenditure. The initial focus was on project preparation, planning and recruitments.
The World Bank approves scientifically proven technologies and supports only such projects that are environmentally and socially safe. Larger projects and regional investments are in the pipeline, including five landfills worth Rs 1,000 crores across the state. People probably look at all these as obstacles but these are the safeguards we have to follow,” said KSWMP project director Divya S Iyer.