The Hindu                10.07.2013

Waste not wasted — get on this sustainable platform

Rajesh B. Nair

Garbage is not waste. To find out, stand on railway platforms at Kochuveli and Murukkumpuzha. Now the Kadakkavoor station is getting such a platform, filled with garbage, around 1,000 tonnes of it.

Garbage from the city will go into the 540-metre-long, 0.84-metre-high and 6.5-metre-wide structure.

The City Corporation, which will execute the plan with funds from the Suchitwa Mission, will invite tenders in three weeks, V.S. Padmakumar, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Works, says.

V. Sasi, MLA, said Railways would supervise the work, and the Suchitwa Mission would meet the project cost.

The platform will have a polythene sheet at the base to prevent leachate from leaking out.

For the multi-layer filling, compacted garbage will be deposited over a layer of soil and clay, evenly spread to make a 35-cm-thick coating.

The garbage and soil layer will be capped and paved with interlocking tiles.

The platform, expected to be ready in six months, thus will help the Corporation remove a portion of the waste accumulated on roads because of the closure of the Vilappilsala plant.

On Sunday, at the instance of the Corporation, a meeting was held at Kadakkavoor to give the project a final push. Mr. Sasi chaired the meeting. Officials from Railways and the Suchitwa Mission and representatives of the block panchayat participated.

When reminded of the opposition from local people to the projects at Kochuveli and Murukkumpuzha, he said the plan was finalised after consultation with residents, traders and panchayat representatives.

The Corporation had agreed to construct the platform scientifically, adhering to safeguards.

The Hindu                 09.07.2013 

Biogas plants to be set up at 62 places

Staff Reporter

Over the past few months, the city Corporation has been aggressively promoting decentralised systems of waste management through ward-level meetings.

Going a step further, the civic body has now formulated a project to install 62 high-capacity biogas plants in the city. It has sought Rs.7.25 crore from the State government for the project.

Following the success of the biogas plant set up at Sreekanteswaram a few months ago, the civic body has decided to install community-based biogas plants. Corporation officials are compiling a list of all government or Corporation-owned spaces in the city where these could be set up.

Vikas Bhavan, Vanchiyoor court complex, and Music College are some of the spots proposed by the civic body. Once the Suchitwa Mission receives the project report, its officials will examine the sites and provide technical sanction for the project, following which Expression of Interest will be invited.

In the months after the closure of the Vilappilsala waste treatment plant, biogas plants and pipe composts were generally regarded with suspicion by the public, with many voicing concern about their maintenance.

Moreover, people were largely unaware of the subsidies on offer by the mission which is under the State government.

The ward-level conventions had offered city residents a forum to do the paperwork to avail of subsidies and to know more about the plants which appear to be the only realistic hope in managing biodegradable waste.

Wards such as Chettivilakom, where most houses have biogas plants, are almost 100 per cent garbage-free.

Vikas Bhavan, Vanchiyoor court complex, and Music College are some of the spots proposed by the Corporation for the project.