The Local Self-Government department will organise Haritha Sabha (green assembly) in all local bodies across the State on World Environment Day on June 5, in continuation of the rapid action plan launched to keep Kerala clean and litter-free. The sabhas are aimed at evaluating the outcome of the zero waste State campaign launched in March, as well as to lay down the road map for taking the plan forward.
The Haritha Sabha will also set the platform for educating citizens about the importance of waste management in society. The action plan, planned to be implemented in three-phases, was aimed at making all the local self-government institutions (LSGIs) in the State garbage-free by 2024. The Haritha Karma Sena set up in all LSGIs in the first phase of the campaign could extend their doorstep collection service to more than 50% houses. Gradually, it targets 100% achievement through the second and third phase campaigns.
The Haritha Sabha will have participants from the entire spectrum of society including trade organisations, health and hygiene workers, resident associations, Asha workers, NSS volunteers, NCC cadets, members of civil society organisations and civic awareness activists. The broad outline of the second phase of the campaign will be declared in the Haritha Sabha. The deliberations of the Haritha Sabha in panchayats, municipalities and Corporations will also highlight the need for creating basic infrastructure for a sustainable system for waste disposal.
The Chief Secretary had issued an order to audit the activities being held as part of the garbage-free Kerala campaign. A monitoring council chaired by the respective MLAs have been constituted to ensure proper disposal of waste and for assessing the progress at regular intervals. Since the launch of the programme, as many as two lakh neighbourhood groups cleaned up around 44,415 waterbodies and visited about 70 lakh houses to create awareness, besides conducting clean-up drives in more than 10,000 public spaces. They also organised awareness programmes on Waste-Free Day on April 30.
