Illegal waste dumping from neighbouring local bodies is the latest development that’s worrying the civic authorities of Kochi.
Last month, over 100 cases of illegal dumping of waste were recorded by health officials and most of the culprits were from the neighbouring local bodies of Eloor, Maradu, Thripunithura and Cheranalloor. In the central city area, around 25 persons were booked.
The fine ranged from ₹200 to ₹5,000, and the maximum fine was slapped on those who dumped commercial waste, said V.K. Minimol, chairperson of the Health Standing Committee of the Kochi Corporation.
There has been an increase of 300 tonnes of waste collected and removed from the city streets.
On a monthly average, 1,200 lorry loads of waste are collected and transported to the municipal waste treatment facility of the civic body at Brahmapuram. However, since the onset of the monsoon, this has gone up to 1,500 loads, which is adding huge burden on the local body, she said.
On a given day, garbage piles could be seen on the flanks of roads. Most heaps appear during the early hours of the day, after the cleaning workers leave for their homes.
The local body had intensified the cleaning job as a preventive step to curb the outbreak of diseases, she said. The culprits were identified by checking the visuals from CCTVs set up by residents and shop owners. All the offenders who were identified were booked. The crackdown will continue as the illegal dumping of waste upsets the city work, she said.
The disruption in the collection and transportation of waste in the neighbouring municipalities during the heavy downpour might have prompted traders as well as residents to chose the city roads for the dumping of waste, she said.
Commercial establishments too were engaged in the job as dumping of waste from some firms engaged in the manufacturing of sofa sets were caught red-handed.
Wet beds too added to the load, she said.