Kerala - Kozhikode   

Garbage removal hit in Kozhikode city

Staff Reporter

Street corners, lanes and residential areas have become dumping grounds

STINKING SCENARIO: Garbage piled up near the mofussil bus stand in Kozhikode. Photo: S. Ramesh Kurup

Kozhikode: Street corners, lanes, commercial complexes and residential areas have become the latest garbage dumping grounds in the city. Even the Kozhikode beach has become another junkyard.

Once again the removal of garbage has come to a halt in the city. Residents complain that the Corporation authorities have adopted no measures though a section of the Njelianparamba residents blocked the vehicles transporting garbage from the city to the dumping grounds on Monday. Last week, the residents experienced similar problem with garbage piling up at all parts of the city.

Kudumbasree volunteers engaged in the collection of garbage from households stopped collection of waste since Saturday. Housing colonies are piled up with garbage. "Somehow we may have to dispose of the garbage collected from the flats. We may have to dig a huge pit to bury all the waste. But that will contaminate our wells," says P.A. Jayaprakash, a resident at the East Hill Apartments.

Garbage has accumulated at the Mofussil Bus Station and the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus station on Mavoor Road, Palayam Market and the bus station and Kallai.

The Corporation office and the Kozhikode beach have become a dumping ground for waste materials. Stench emanating from these areas is intolerable.

Not only the residential areas in the city but also the busy shopping complexes have become a yard for putrid materials and rubbish from hotels and slaughterhouses.

Housewives said that the civic body had made a mockery of the model solid waste management envisaged for the city a year ago. " The Corporation is collecting Rs.360 every year from each household for the purpose," said M.K. Rajalakshmi, residing at Chungam.

Residents of Njelianparamba began blocking the Corporation vehicles transporting garbage since Monday morning. Lorries were blocked at the Cheruvannur-Nallalam grama panchayat office even though the vehicles were given police protection. These were forced to return to the Corporation office.

The protestors said that the Corporation was violating the agreement reached between the representatives of the Corporation and the grama panchayat at the district Collectorate last week.

One of the agreements was that only degradable waste materials should be dumped at Njelianparamba.

The meeting held in the presence of Collector Rachna Shah last week had mooted steps such as removal of recycled waste at the treatment plant at Njeliamparamba.

The meeting was convened after a section of the residents in the area blocked the vehicles carrying garbage citing that wastewater from the dumping grounds was contaminating their wells. The issue also created a law and order problem in the area.

On Thursday, the city council took a decision to shift the garbage from the dumping site. Contract was awarded to one of the participants in a tender at Rs.2,500 a tonne. However, the removal of waste from the site still remained on paper.

Many people alleged that the Corporation and the grama panchayat authorities were playing hide and seek on the issue. Vested interests were behind the demand to shift the dumping site, which had been used by the Kozhikode Corporation for over three decades.

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