KOCHI: Kochi Corporation is on a lookout for sponsors for the segregated waste collection programme.

According to the programme, each household will have two plastic buckets for collecting biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste. A proposal for free supply of plastic buckets to families below poverty line was under the consideration of the civic body. The Corporation was on the lookout for sponsors for the proposed project, Mercy Williams, Kochi Mayor, told a Corporation Council meeting on Thursday.

Replying to the debate, Ms. Williams said that anti-plastic campaign of the corporation evoked positive results with the city dwellers positively responding to the proposal. Signboards announcing Kochi as a plastic free city would be displayed in various parts of the city, she said.

On the reported directive of the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (PCB) for the closure of a few abattoirs in the city, Ms. Williams said the civic body did not receive any orders so far.

The civic body could not implement the proposal for modernising the abattoirs, as Government sanction was not accorded for the project. However, the abattoirs need to be modernised and the Health committee would look into it, she said.

The Kochi Corporation was not in a position to lift the waste generated by the city hospitals and hotels and strict directions were issued to the staff not to collect waste from these institutions. The hospitals should process the bio-medical waste generated by them, she said.

David Parambithara sought a clarification of the civic authorities on whether there was a system for gauging the thickness of plastic covers that were used in the city as the civic body had banned the use of plastic below 30 micron. He urged the civic authorities to use the fund it collected by way of fine imposed on those who were littering roads to support those agencies that were removing the waste on their own.

N. Venugopal said the corporation staff members were removing waste from private hospitals and and restaurants in the city despite the directive of the civic authorities. The hotels and hospitals accounted for nearly 50 per cent of the waste that was generated in the city. However, the revenue of the civic body from these institutions were negligible, he said.

Commenting on the reported directive of the PCB to shut down the abattoirs, Mr. Venugopal said the corporation diverted Rs.1.20 crore funds earmarked for the modernisation of the abattoirs.

In his reply, Health Standing Committee chairman K.J. Maxy said the corporation was not removing waste from the hospitals. Hotels that were functioning in the city were also asked to process waste on their own. Action would be taken against those staff who violated the directive, he said.

K.J. Antony said that special squads should be deployed on Saturdays and Sundays at meat stalls for checking the use of plastic bags. The option of earthen pots in place of plastic buckets for segregated collection of waste should also be considered, he said.

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