The Hindu                20.04.2013

The burning issue of plastic waste

Kozhikode district declared ‘plastic-waste-free’ in 2011.

At a stone’s throw from Sarovaram, a government-owned
multi-crore bio-park in the city, herds of swine roam nonchalantly
amidst heaps of plastic and human waste.

This sight is proof of the growing menace of illegal dumping of waste by private contractors within urban limits.

What
was once a green space bordering the K.C. Chandran Road leading to the
affluent Jaffer Khan residential colony and, further, the Regional
Science Centre and Planetarium — a prime spot in the city — has now
become a dump yard.

In the mornings, acrid smoke from
the burning plastic seep onto the adjacent mini-bypass connecting
Eranhipalam Junction with the city’s retail trade hub, Mavoor Road.

Corporation’s
sanitation workers also contribute to the residents’ misery. On any
given day, workers unload garbage here. Residents say the garbage is
then segregated and cleaned at the nearby Canoly canal, before some of
it making its way to the plastic recycling unit at West Hill. But a
large part of the waste is left back, tied up in plastic covers and
abandoned to the pigs.

“This is an example of how
land within urban limits is used for illegal dumping of waste. There is a
strong stink when plastic waste is burnt. Garbage is dumped here at
night. It is impossible to keep watch, as the place is secluded after
dark except for the passing traffic on the by-pass,” Jolly Jerome, a
member of the Sarovaram Residents’ Association, said.

Many
locals in the area such as Mr. Jolly pointed to how plastic waste
continued to pile up in the city despite the district being declared
“plastic-waste-free” way back in 2011 with much fanfare. They said all
that was just empty rhetoric.

In a well-attended
function organised by the district administration, an official
declaration was made that Rs.50 lakh would be spent to take forward the
Mass Action for Plastic-waste-free Kozhikode (MAP) campaign.

An example?

A.
Pradeepkumar, MLA, had said at the function organised on the Kozhikode
beach that the district was setting an example for others to emulate and
called plastic waste as “one of the major threats to our future.”

M.K.
Raghavan, Kozhikode MP, had unveiled a set of alternative products to
plastic carry-bags at the venue. More than 50,000 such carry-bags were
distributed free to people at the venue.

“But today,
places like the one at K.C. Chandran Road is the district’s reality,”
P.T. Valsalan, General Secretary of the Residents Apex Council, an
umbrella body for residents, said.

“We are going to
keep two security persons at the entrance of this road to prevent
garbage trucks from illegally entering this space. The residents
associations of the area have agreed to pay for the security people,”
O.M. Bharadwaj, the local Corporation councillor, said.