The State will pass legislation next month in a bid to ensure stricter implementation of waste management measures, Minister for Local Self-Government M.B. Rajesh has said.
Speaking after inaugurating ‘Maattam’, a two-day workshop for civic bodies in Kozhikode, Kannur, Wayanad, and Kasaragod districts, at Vythiri on Monday, Mr. Rajesh said as the latest technologies were available to collect and dispose of solid waste, civic bodies should make best use of them through exemplary leadership interventions. The zonal workshop was organised by the Kerala Solid Waste Management Project (KSWMP).
Noting that the government was making concerted efforts for a garbage-free Kerala, Mr. Rajesh called for ways to overcome the slow pace in execution that could stop the ‘Malinya Muktham Nava Keralam’ drive from achieving its aim by March next year.
The Minister also emphasised the need to complete the first round of the drive in July. “Authorities should go much beyond merely buying kitchen bins and supplying them to households,” he said. He added that councillors should ably settle possible resistance by people against setting up waste treatment plants in their vicinity.
Mr. Rajesh cited Sulthan Bathery, Kunnamkulam, Guruvayur, Vadakara, Perinthalmanna and Attingal municipalities as models of exemplary civic bodies. “We hope the whole of Kerala will emulate them,” he said.
As many as 300 delegates are attending the programme, which will conclude on Tuesday.
