The Hindu 06.02.2010
Corporation tightens waste disposal rules
Staff Reporter
| Fine and jail term for littering from April 1 |
Fine can go up to Rs.25,000; jail term up to 6 months
Kudumbasree units not to collect waste in plastic bags
Kozhikode: The City Corporation Council has decided to strictly enforce the Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2000 in the city from April 1. A decision to this effect was taken at the council meeting here on Friday. Mayor M. Bhaskaran chaired the session.
Those littering public places will be fined between Rs.100 and Rs.25,000 and imprisoned up to six months. The punishment will depend on the gravity of the offence. Now the fine imposed for littering at public places is fixed at Rs.250.
The secretary of the Corporation will decide on the penalty.
Appeals against the penalties can be submitted before the chairman on Standing Committee on Health and Education.
Awareness campaign
Kudumbasree volunteers engaged in the door-to-door collection of waste materials will stop collecting plastic carry bags from April 1.
Heath inspectors will undertake a campaign to discourage residents from using plastic bags.
The Health Department will also distribute leaflets regarding the new rules, the Mayor said.
Rules for abattoirs
The Mayor also said that chicken stalls and slaughterhouses needed to install biogas plants and incinerators for the safe disposal of waste from their shops.
A new Rs.2.25-lakh bio-gas plant set up by the corporation would be inaugurated at Vellimadukunnu on February 8, he said.
Taking part in the deliberations, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) member P.T. Rajan said that the Corporation should take stringent actions against hotels and hospitals dumping waste in the Canoly canal. The existing ban on plastic carry bags below the thickness of 30 microns was not effectively enforced, he said.
For chicken stalls
Congress councillor P.K. Mamukoya said that hotels functioning at rented buildings would find it difficult to install biogas plants.
The corporation would also provide facility at a common place to set up chicken stalls, he said.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member K.V. Venugopalan also suggested that the civic body scout for a land to safely dispose carcass of animals. The Mayor said that the suggestion would be considered.
Deputy Mayor P.T. Abdul Latheef said that the Corporation would take action against organisers who do not remove billboards after the event was over.
These billboards caused traffic snarls and was a threat to pedestrians and motorists, he said.
