The Hindu 27.11.2009

Road to be declared garbage-free

Special Correspondent

KOZHIKODE: The district is steadily moving towards the goal of achieving garbage–free status envisaged under the State government’s Total Sanitation Mission.

A significant moment in the campaign would be on Saturday when Minister for Local Self-Government Paloli Mohammed Kutty will declare a road in Koothali panchayat garbage-free.

The function will be held at Koothali grama panchayat in Perambra block panchayat. District panchayat president K.P. Kunhammedkutty will preside.

After the announcement of “garbage-free model roads” is made, the onus of keeping the roads clean will be on the people of the locality.

These roads will be looked after by voluntary agencies, political parties, clubs and libraries under the leadership of the panchayat committee concerned.

This was announced at a press conference on Thursday by M. Radhakrishnan, chairman, district panchayat’s standing committee for Health and Education, and K. Narayanan, president, Koothali grama panchayat.

Deadline

The District Sanitation Mission, which is implementing the project in this district, has set May 31, 2010 as the deadline to achieve the “model garbage-free status” for at least one road in every ward in all the panchayats in Kozhikode district.

The garbage-free road project is part of achieving the goal of total sanitation for the entire State. Keeping public places free of garbage is expected to help contain the spread of diseases. The Total Sanitation Mission aims at achieving garbage free-status for the entire State in three years.

Model roads

It was earlier decided at a meeting of presidents of local bodies that at least one main road in each grama panchayat would be declared “model garbage-free road.”

This declaration was made on November 1 under the project that aims at achieving the goal of ‘malinyamuktham, mathrukaparam, ente Kozhikode.’