Work contracted out to Salem-based companyThe Thrissur Corporation Council meeting on Monday gave the green signal to a Salem-based company to remove the accumulated garbage from the city.According to the tender conditions, the company will remove 400 tonnes of waste in a week at the rate of Rs. 2,700 per tonne. It should remove the garbage at its own responsibility.

The garbage removal began from the city as the council approved the tender. However, there were apprehensions against the move. Many Councillors raised the suspicion whether there would be 400 tonnes of garbage in the city.

Mayor I.P. Paul said the accumulated garbage from Lalur would also be removed by the company if the garbage in the city was less than the contracted quantity.

The Suchitwa Mission had allotted Rs. 1 crore for removing garbage from the Lalur dumping yard.“Two health officials will monitor weighing of garbage. Computerised weighing machines will be used for the purpose. If the accumulated garbage in the city was not 400 tonne, the garbage from Lalur will be added to it,” the Mayor said.

However, the CPI councillors opposed the tender alleging lack of transparency in the tender procedures.

“The corporation should have called an all-party meeting before going for tender. The person who submitted the tender does not have any treatment plant. He is just an agent of the Salem-based company. The process will lead to large-scale corruption,” said M.P. Sreenivasan, Opposition councillor.

Another Councillor Saramma Robson said it should only be a temporary arrangement for removing the accumulated garbage.Garbage disposal from the city had been hit since last January after the residents of Lalur, the garbage disposal site of Thrissur Corporation, blocked dumping of waste following a major fire at the dumping yard.

Those opposed to the decision said that it would the destabilise the corporation’s efforts for decentralisation of garbage treatment.“It will give licence for the people to throw garbage onto streets again. The city dwellers are now slowly getting to the habit of source segregation and treatment. The move will torpedo the entire decentralisation scheme,” they feared.

“It cannot be a permanent solution. The proposal is expensive and will cost the corporation a huge amount each time of disposal. What we need is a change in attitude,” the experts said.