The Hindu : Kerala News : UNDP adopts zero waste Kovalam model

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Wednesday, Feb 13, 2008
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Kerala

UNDP adopts zero waste Kovalam model

S. Anil Radhakrishnan

To address waste management in select cities

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Inspired by the zero waste concept that was kick-started in Kovalam to tackle the vexed garbage issue at the beach resort, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has adopted the concept to address waste management in select cities.

Being taken up under the UNDP’s endogenous tourism project, Samode in Rajasthan, Pranpur in Madhya Pradesh, Naggar in Himachal Pradesh, Nepura in Bihar, Pochampally in Andhra Pradesh, Lachen in Sikkim, Jyotisar in Haryana, Banavasi in Karnataka and the Spice Circuit spread over Kerala and Tamil Nadu are the cities selected for implementing the concept.

Spiti in the snow-clad Himachal Pradesh is also joining hands with the authorities to tackle waste management. A five-day training programme was organised by the city-based Thanal, which spearheaded the Zero Waste Kovalam project, in the beach resort for representatives of the NGOs and communities from these places.

Already NGOs have started working at these places to eliminate waste. The participants comprising a representative each of the NGO, local community and the village tourism development committee undertook field visits to Villapilsala, organic farming plots in and around Kovalam and the zero waste centre.

Besides, the workshop aimed at building capacity in the NGOs and communities to perceive waste disposal issues. The presentations made by the NGOs reveal that waste management is a major issue.

Even at Lachen, which has just 600 households and 3,000-odd population, the open disposal of waste is to the tune of 100 tonnes.

A draft action plan to tackle waste was prepared at the workshop. The draft was presented before a panel comprising Director, Ecotourism, T.P. Narayanan Kutty and project officer, Endogenous Tourism, UNDP, R.K. Anil, among others.

The action plan addresses the issues locally to achieve the concept of zero waste. The plan will be finalised by the community in consultation with the other stakeholders by March.

“The zero waste team from Thanal will make another round of field visit to these places and technical assistance will be provided by us to them,” says C. Jayakumar of Thanal. By October, each site will have an action plan to tackle garbage.

The UNDP’s new initiative ‘Endogenous Tourism Culture and Craft-based Ecotourism for Sustainable Livelihoods and Integrated Rural Development’ seeks to promote local culture and craft for creating livelihood opportunities as well as projecting these as local attractions for domestic and international tourists.

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