The Hindu 10.01.2011
Garbage accumulating in new wards
City Corporation yet to come up with collection and disposal system
The city Corporation is struggling to find a solution to the problem of
garbage accumulation in new wards annexed to the city from five suburban
panchayats last year.
Faced with local resistance to the operation of the
solid waste treatment plant at Vilappilsala, the Corporation is fighting
shy of deploying Kudumbasree units for daily garbage collection in the
new wards annexed from the Kazhakuttam, Sreekaryam, Kudappanakunnu,
Vattiyoorkavu and Vizhinjam panchayats.
Councillors in the outlying wards sounded the warning
that the situation would get out of hand soon, unless immediate steps
were taken to address the problem.
“Mounds of garbage are accumulating by roadsides, posing
a health hazard. People have started asking us whether this is the
price they have to pay for the merger of the panchayat with the city.
The Corporation authorities maintain that they will have to evolve their
own system for garbage disposal till the end of the financial year. But
public patience is wearing thin,” said Sadanandan Thai, councillor
representing the Kottapuram ward annexed from the former Vizhinjam
panchayat.
Epidemic threat
Garbage accumulation raises the threat of an epidemic
outbreak in the densely-populated coastal areas. Mr. Thai was forced to
stage a sit-in at Vizhinjam last Friday, forcing the Corporation to
deploy trucks to remove the garbage mounds that had started rotting.
The Vilappil gram panchayat and Nemom block panchayat
are on the warpath against the Corporation, demanding that the
centralised treatment plant be closed down on grounds of environmental
pollution. They want the Corporation to adopt a decentralised system of
solid waste management, focussing on mini treatment plants and household
and community-level garbage disposal.
“There is no immediate solution in sight. Setting up a
mini treatment plant is easier said than done. For one, there is the
difficulty in identifying land. If at all land is available, the
neighbourhood will put up stiff resistance to a garbage plant. It will
require a protracted public consultation exercise to overcome these
hurdles,” said a civic official.
Disposal at source
In the Sreekaryam ward annexed from the former
panchayat, councillor Vijayakumar is spearheading a public sensitisation
campaign to promote garbage disposal at the household and community
level. “The large number of apartment complexes that have sprouted up
all over the ward pose a new threat. The garbage from these flats is
dumped by the roadside. We are now trying to enlist the support of
residents’ associations to discourage this,” he said.
Mr. Vijayakumar said there was no alternative to setting
up a mechanised treatment plant in the area comprising the former
panchayat, though he admitted that identifying land for the project was a
major challenge.
He was sore that there had been no move on the part of
the Corporation to set up a plant or initiate a public discussion on the
issue. “These are things that should have been planned well before the
panchayats were merged with the city,” he said.
The Chanthavila ward that was annexed to the city from
the Kazhakuttam panchayat is struggling to deal with the garbage problem
that threatens to erupt into a crisis. “Garbage is piling up at many
places. The LDF leadership is focussed on wriggling out of the threat
posed by the local agitation at Vilappil. The people here feel that they
are getting a raw deal from the Corporation,” said councillor K.
Mohanan Nair.
Decentralised system
The Nettayam ward annexed to the city from the
Vattiyoorkavu panchayat is also facing the problem of garbage
accumulation. “Despite public pressure, the Corporation has not
introduced a system for collection or initiated steps to establish a
mini treatment plant,” said councillor M.R. Rajeev. The BJP, which won
the ward, is campaigning for a network of at least 10 mini treatment
plants and incinerators across the city to replace the centralised
system of processing at the Vilappil project.
Mr. Thai, however, said the government should step in to
acquire land for garbage plants. “Much of the public resistance to such
plants can be overcome if the Corporation develops a pilot project to
demonstrate environment-friendly technology,” he said.
Chairperson of the health standing committee S.
Pushpalatha said the Corporation was planning a massive grassroots-level
campaign to promote garbage disposal at source. A Suchitwa Police Corps
would be set up in schools and resource persons would be appointed. The
campaign is expected to be launched by the month end.
Ms. Pushpalatha said directives would be issued soon to
remove the accumulated garbage from public places using the services of
different agencies. She said the Corporation would move the government
seeking stiffer penalty to deter litterbugs.
