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.