The door-to-door waste collection within Kozhikode city limits under the aegis of the Haritha Karma Sena is expected to resume within a week. Health standing committee chairman K.V. Baburaj said the Sena had been equipped to carry out the task.
The services of the Sena was unofficially suspended during the lockdown after its members failed to turn up for work mostly out of fear and due to travel restrictions.
As a result, the waste disposal system in the city, which depended heavily on daily door-to-door collection, was disrupted, and people began dumping waste in public places.
The implementation of the ban on single-use plastic was also affected with home delivery platforms using disposable plastic containers and carry bags. It resulted in rampant burning of plastic waste in many parts of the city.
The decision to resume Haritha Karma Sena operations is expected to be made at the Corporation council meeting on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the waste that has accumulated at the Corporation’s recycling plants at West Hill and Njeliyanparamba, both managed by Niravu waste management company, is being shifted to Niravu’s new warehouse at Nallalam.
Niravu project coordinator Babu Parambath said plastic waste was being cleared from the plants in preparation for the fresh batches of waste that would be brought in once the Sena resumed work.
Mr. Parambath said around 100 truckloads of waste had been shifted to the new warehouse where it would be baled (compressed) and stored, to be transported to Karnataka once inter-State transportation resumed.