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The commissioning of the solid-waste treatment plant at Brahmapuram can be highlighted as a major achievement of the civic administrators of Kochi. The enactment of a compendium of bylaws for strengthening garbage handling and treatment in the city will add credence to their claim.

For decades together, Kochi had been employing the crudest way of managing waste. Open dumping of waste without segregation had been the norm.

The practice dates back to when Kochi was just one of the port towns in the country and not a hub of economic activities on the present scale. There were no high-rises and demographic pressure then.

Dumping of untreated waste poses serious health hazards in the city given the proximity of water bodies and the high water table.

Bidding goodbye to the decades-old practice is not an easy task. The civic administrators and the residents are aware of it. But then, one has to start somewhere. The enactment of the bylaws is viewed from this perspective.

While giving a legal framework for the whole gamut of the waste-treatment process, the stress of the bylaws is on creating a new mindset among the residents and the floating population.

The bylaws came into effect on June 1, as decided by the Corporation Council.

Now, the onus is on each household and resident to help in achieving the objective of a clean and healthy Kochi.

Section 4 of the bylaws prohibits dumping of waste of any nature in public places and water bodies. No public place, other than those prescribed for the purpose, shall be used for bathing; spitting; washing of clothes, vehicles and animals; and slaughtering of animals. Each citizen shall be responsible for maintaining his or her premises clean and free of garbage.

Section 5 of the law fixes the responsibility of managing six varieties of waste on those generating it.

The classified varieties are biodegradable waste; hazardous substances from houses and institutions; biomedical waste; waste from the construction sector such as material from the demolition of buildings; bark and other waste from gardens; and non-biodegradable waste which can be recycled and cannot be recycled.

Section 5.2 of the bylaw says that it will be the responsibility of those who generate the waste to segregate and store it and hand it over to people responsible for its collection. The nature of storage of and the process for it shall be notified from time to time by the Corporation Secretary.

Residents who do not have their own system for processing degradable waste should collect the waste in containers with lids and handed over to people responsible for its collection. Such residents should pay the fee fixed by the civic authorities.

Section 5.4 states that institutions that churn out large quantities of waste, such as hotels, restaurants, catering units, marriage halls, hospitals, canteens, fish and meat processing units and private markets, should set up their own system for treatment of waste.

The setting up and running of such systems will be made part of the licence conditions.

Each household and owner of institutions in the city is duty-bound to hand over hazardous waste on his or her premises once a week.

The health inspectors will notify the day of collection. Hospitals and medical institutions should make provisions for the collection and storage of biomedical waste. The bylaw has made dumping of biomedical waste along with other refuse an offence. Medical institutions should by themselves handle such waste or make other arrangements for its safe disposal.

Section 5.7 of the bylaws puts the responsibility of segregating and storing of construction and demolition waste on people responsible for the construction or demolition of buildings. This waste should be removed with the assistance of the Corporation authorities and a fee fixed by the Corporation will be levied from those concerned.

Littering of public places with cigarette butts, paper, cloth and other materials has been included in the list of punishable offences.

Burning of waste in private and public places and dumping yards has been prohibited. However, burning in incinerators after obtaining special permission from the Corporation can be done. The law permits the residents to burn domestic refuse within their premises on condition that the neighbours will undisturbed.

The act of mixing segregated garbage with other waste by the Corporation officials or contractors of vehicles assigned to transport waste or the refusal to collect waste on schedule have been made a punishable offence.

While elaborating on the duties and responsibilities of the residents on waste management, the bylaw has listed the responsibilities of the Corporation.

The basic information on the functions and responsibilities of the Corporation on processing of waste has been included on www. corporationofcochin.net.

The bylaw has taken a lenient view of the implementation of the penal provisions during the first month of the notification’s coming into effect.

For violation of the provisions during the first month, the Corporation will levy just half the fine prescribed.

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