The Hindu 03.03.2011
Waste disposal in Kannur to resume today
Residents of Chelora end protest
The Kannur municipality's garbage disposal, which has been disrupted for the past four days, will resume on March 3, following the municipality's assurance to the protesting residents near its landfill at Chelora here that it will take steps in two months to meet some of their demands.
An action committee of local residents protesting against the disposal of municipal waste at a dumpyard at Chelora, outside the municipal limits, called off their agitation after talks with the municipal authorities at a meeting convened by District Collector Anand Singh here on Wednesday.
The decision was seen as a great relief for people in the town gripped by the inescapable stench from the waste collection spots here with accumulated plastic bags full of household waste and other garbage. The municipal officials said the work to remove the mounting garbage would begin on Thursday. The meeting, attended by municipal chairperson M.C. Sreeja and Additional District Magistrate P.K. Sudheerkumar and representatives of the protesting residents, among others, succeeded to end the stalemate when the municipal authorities agreed to take certain steps to redress the grievances of the residents.
Decisions
Municipal standing committee chairman T.O. Mohanan, who attended the meeting, said the municipal authorities promised to take steps to ensure drinking water supply to the 27 houses in the area that were not receiving water supplied by the municipality. The municipality would also take emergency measures to supply water to the residents whenever the area faced water shortage, he said.
The other demands included expansion of the capacity of the four existing biogas plants at the dump at Chelora and implementation of measures to separate organic waste from plastic waste at the points of waste collection, he said, adding that the decisions would be implemented within two months. The waste disposal had been disrupted after the agitation started in the last week of February.
