Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

New garbage collection system on track in the capital

Staff Reporter

Kowdiar, PTP Nagar record 100 per cent coverage

Thiruvananthapuram: The City Corporation has stepped up the drive to prevent littering of public places and to streamline the new garbage collection system introduced in 24 wards under the Capital City Clean City project.

The Corporation's Health Department has slapped a fine of Rs.250 each on 17 persons and issued notices to 30 commercial institutions for dumping garbage in public places.

Health squads have been set up to identify and punish litterbugs. Nighttime patrolling has also been intensified to prevent slaughterhouses in the suburbs from bringing animal waste into the city for disposal.

New units

A project review meeting held last week decided to augment the number of Kudumbasree units involved in garbage removal under the trial phase of the Capital City Clean City project. Health officials told the meeting that new units would have to be set up in six of the 24 wards identified for the pilot project.

They said the existing manpower resources for garbage removal in the Chalai, Thampanoor, Vazhuthacaud, Kannamoola, Kunnukuzhy and Valiasala wards were inadequate to cover all the households.

The meeting decided to take urgent steps to streamline the collection and transportation system. The 24 Kudumbasree units involved in the pilot project together employ more than 350 women as sanitation workers.

A status report presented by the health standing committee chairman G.R. Anil said five cluster committees had been constituted to monitor the functioning of the Kudumbasree units. Ward-level committees had also been set up. The report said the pilot project had covered 33,771 houses and 2,713 shops in the 24 wards. This represented a coverage of 80 per cent.

Coverage

The Kowdiar and PTP Nagar wards have achieved 100 per cent coverage of households while 12 wards have registered over 90 per cent coverage. All the shops and business establishments in Pattom and Palayam wards have been brought into the project.

Mr. Anil said the collection fee for shops was fixed in consultation with the traders after considering the quantum of waste generated by each outlet. The charges ranged from Rs.50 per day for big hotels to Rs.50 per month for small shops.

Mr. Anil said all the temporary garbage dumping and collection points in the various wards would be closed by the month end, once the new system kicked in. "All the garbage collected from houses will be directly transferred to trucks and taken to the treatment plant at Vilappilsala," he explained.

The Corporation has also initiated moves to streamline the garbage transport system. Health committee members said this would require rescheduling of truck movement to coincide with the collection timing.

"We are trying to introduce a five-hour collection mechanism from 7 a.m. to 12 noon. The operational schedule of the garbage trucks will be revised accordingly. All the trucks will be refitted with two separate compartments to hold the segregated waste," Mr. Anil said.

Medical scheme

The health committee is simultaneously working on a medical assistance scheme for the women sanitation workers drawn from Kudumbasree units. "We have plans to subject them to a medical check-up and issue a health card. They will also be vaccinated against tetanus to prevent infection from broken glass and sharp pieces of discarded metal," a civic official said.

Mr. Anil said the project would be extended to the other wards in the city in a phased manner from October.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

New garbage collection system on track in the capital
Panel to survey `unsafe' trees
`Aruvikkara treatment plants need two feeders'
KSEB fails to tackle power crisis
A departure from tradition
`Image' problems?
Woman attempts suicide in police custody
Traffic police crack down on erring motorists
Database of domestic dogs
World Cup fever at Central Prison
Monsoon treat for tourists
Nature's fury
Around The City
In Thiruvananthapuram Today

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu