As many as 75 lakh citizens in Kerala are expected to benefit from a USD300 million project funded by the World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to improve solid waste management in urban local bodies by providing technology- assisted processing facilities.
The Kerala Solid Waste Management project will cover 87 municipalities and six Corporations in the State. The project has taken effect from March 8 after the signing of the USD300-million agreement between the government and funding agencies was formalised, Minister for Local Self-Government M.V.Govindan said here on Friday.
He said efforts were on to procure the first tranche of the loan for the project to be completed in six years. Of the total assistance, the World Bank and AIIB would provide USD105 million each and the State government will cough up USD90 million.
“The project envisages both centralised plants and decentalised system”
The Minister said the project would provide a lasting solution to the challenges and issues posed by urban solid waste. He explained that it would have a collection system covering all houses and establishments in the target local bodies, processing facilities, restoration of old waste management sites, landfill centres for non-biodegradable waste, and reuse and recycling facilities. Each local body would have a master plan for solid waste management and would be provided technical assistance.
The project would seek to improve the capability of agencies and institutions involved in waste management, strengthen the decentralised system of waste management, and construction or restoration of centralised solid waste disposal plants.
Mr. Govindan said a three-tier system had been put in place to implement and monitor the progress of the project on a daily basis. He added that efforts were on to restore 38 waste dumping sites across the State.
