THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The local self-government department (LSGD) plans to take stringent actions, including imposition of fines, on local bodies that fail to adhere to waste management norms. The move comes in the wake of growing fire accidents at waste management facilities.
On Tuesday, a 60-year-old man was killed in a fire mishap at a waste dumping facility at Chulliyode in Nenmani panchayat, Wayanad. LSGD Minister M B Rajesh told TNIE that strict action will be taken against local bodies that fail to carry out waste management effectively.
“We have a clear vision and have set targets for achieving the zero-garbage status for Kerala. We will be reviewing the progress of each local body in attaining the targets. We have decided to impose fines on local bodies that fail to implement them. We are exploring the legal formalities of the decision,” said Rajesh. He said that the fine amount would be deducted from the plan fund of each local body.
The minister said that a calendar system will be introduced to speed up the removal of waste from storage facilities to avoid accumulation. “The collection has increased manifold and we have directed local bodies to scale up the number of material collection facilities and mini material collection facilities,” said Rajesh. He said that the LSGD would inspect and find out whether social auditing was undertaken at the waste facilities by the local bodies as per the direction.
The LSGD has constituted a special investigation team led by the LSGD additional director with officials from the Suchitwa Mission, the district fire office, and the pollution control board to conduct an inspection of the waste facility at Chulliyode and submit a report by April 5. Besides this, the LSGD has also constituted a team comprising an assistant executive engineer, officials from the Fire and Rescue Services, and the Suchitwa Mission to inspect all waste management facilities under local bodies. The team has been asked to submit a report on the causes of accidents and whether the local bodies ensured fire safety measures at the facilities where the outbreaks were triggered.
The LSGD has also issued a circular directing local bodies to not allow anybody to stay inside such facilities. The man who was killed at Chulliyode was sleeping near the facility when the fire accident took place. In the past months, several major and minor fire accidents were reported at waste storage facilities and this is the first time a man has lost his life.