Some pet waste projects of previous council cancelled

Thiruvananthapuram: The ruling council has cancelled some of the pet projects initially conceived during the tenure of the previous council for strengthening source level waste management citing the reason that it could not be implemented. The list of projects which were retained as spill over or cancelled for 2022-23 was presented as a special item in the council meeting held here on Monday.
Installation of bio-composter projects as part of source level waste management in houses, ring compost and activities of ‘green army’ were listed as cancelled with the reason that it could not be implemented. The ‘green army’ was launched by former mayor V K Prasanth, who is now the MLA of Vattiyoorkavu, specifically to boost eco-friendly initiatives and to spread awareness against the use of plastic, disposable items and to promote waste management. The ‘green army’ volunteers had played a pivotal role in the corporation's activities during the 2018 flood. The previous council had decided to continue the activities of the ‘green army’ to promote environmental awareness and pitch carbon neutral projects in the city.
Ring compost and bio-composters were also mooted by the previous council as part of expanding the concept of source level waste management. V K Prasanth MLA had voiced his displeasure against the present decision of the health standing committee to engage owners of pig farms in bulk waste collection. In the list presented in the assembly, 18 agencies had signed an agreement with the city corporation for the bulk collection of biodegradable waste.
In addition to these, projects for paper and cloth bags distribution, installation of incinerators in schools and institutions and installation of napkin destroyers in public places also have been listed as cancelled. While no reason is given in the document for the cancellation of the paper and cloth bag project as well as napkin destroyer, the incinerator project has been cancelled with the reason that tender procedures could not be completed.
In 2017, the corporation had decided to introduce 30 lakh paper and cloth bags by the middle of that year as an alternative to plastic carry bags. It was also decided that the health committee would spend Rs 5.5 crore, the biggest ever allocation for manufacturing cloth bags by the civic body, as part of the project.
The health standing committee recently faced some tough questions from the opposition during the council meeting when the bill worth Rs 12 lakh for three days plastic alternatives fest came up for the approval of the council. BJP councillors picked on the agenda and said that while the corporation splurged Rs 12 lakh on conducting fests and campaigns, nothing concrete has been achieved in terms of enforcing plastic ban.
The opposition said the corporation has failed to make available plastic alternative items and none of the cloth manufacturing units set up three years ago are now functional. It was pointed out that the council has to move beyond awareness campaigns to wipe out plastic from the city.