THIRUVANATHAPURAM: The state government is taking steps to establish two double-chamber incinerators in every district for sanitary waste disposal, said LSG Minister M B Rajesh. He was replying to a question raised in the assembly on Monday.
The minister said that waste generation has significantly increased with the change in people’s lifestyle. “A survey is being conducted to understand the categories and quantity of such waste. The survey, held as part of the Kerala Solid Waste Management Project, has been completed in 63 municipalities. The state has facilities for waste recycling while the Clean Kerala company and private agencies jointly have the capacity to collect about 8,000 tonnes of waste. Door-to-door collection of waste is conducted by the Haritha Karma Sena, which has 35,554 members,” he said.
Life Mission
As many as 4,93,671 families have benefited from the Life Mission free-housing scheme of the state government, the minister said in response to another question. Of this, a total of 3,74,508 houses have been constructed while a total of Rs 1,966.36 crore was spent under the scheme this financial year. The minister also said that the state government has asked the centre to revise the list of drugs under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
Skill training
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that about 13,000 youths were given skill development training in the IT sector. The ICT Academy of Kerala provided training in the sectors of data science, machine learning, artificial intelligence, full-stack development software testing. The prorgammes were organised in association with companies like the IBM.
National waterway
The CM said that the second phase work of the national waterway is progressing, in which 85 km will be covered. Works involve widening and reconstruction of bridges. The waterway is expected to be completed in 2025. New canals will be built to connect Mahi -Valappattanam and Neeleswaram-Bekal. The third phase involves 61 km of canal construction and development of feeder canals.