Thrikkakara Municipality and Kochi Corporation will soon ink an agreement for processing waste from the municipality.A
Memorandum of Understanding will be signed once the Kochi Corporation
council okays the proposal. The Health Standing Committee of the
corporation has recommended to the council that the proposal can be
agreed upon and MoU signed.

The understanding reached
between the civic bodies also marks the end of a tiff between the two.
Earlier, a section of the councillors of the municipality had blocked
the vehicles transporting refuse to the solid waste treatment plant site
at Brahmapuram.

Blockade

The blockade was for highlighting the demand that the waste from Thrikkakara too should be processed at Thrikkakara.Like
most of the civic bodies, the management of municipal solid waste had
been causing headache to the municipal administration. The spilling over
of the partially decomposed refuse to the streets had raised health
concerns too.

P.A. Muhamadali, chairman of the
Thrikkakara Municipality, said that an understanding was reached between
the Kochi Corporation and the civic body regarding the processing of
waste.

The Kochi Corporation is paying around Rs.550 a
tonne to a private agency for processing waste at its plant site. The
municipality too is willing to pay that amount for treatment and
segregation of waste, he said.

Fee revised

Earlier,
there was an agreement between the two agencies for processing. It was
agreed upon that the municipality would pay Rs.1,200 a tonne as
processing fee. However, it was renegotiated and the revised amount was
fixed. It is estimated that the municipality is churning out around 10
tonnes of waste a day, he said.

Meanwhile, there are
indications that the municipality may not be providing segregated waste
to the plant site. The municipal chairman was of the view that the fee
was being paid for the segregation of waste. However, the corporation
authorities wanted segregated waste to be supplied to the plant and the
fee was charged for its processing. The fee suggested was for processing
of segregated decomposable waste at the site, said T.K. Ashraf,
chairman, Health Standing Committee of the corporation.Only bio-degradable waste would be processed and plastic refuse will not be allowed, Mr. Ashraf said.

Processing at source

Even
while making attempts to process bulk quantities of waste at
Brahmapuram, the municipality is planning to initiate a few steps for
processing of waste at the source.

Pipe composting
will be introduced in the municipality shortly. The civic body has
already issued bio pots to 1,500 persons in its area. Negotiations are
also on with a few agencies for providing biogas plants in the
municipality. Only those agencies approved by the Suchitwa Mission can
be invited for supplying biogas plants. The local body will provide 75
per cent subsidy for such ventures, Muhamadali said.

The
efforts for processing of waste at source have started showing results
and the volume of garbage that is overflowing to the streets has come
down considerably. The municipality may have to send three or four
tonnes of waste for processing at the Brahmapuram plant, he said.