The Local Self-Government department is set to constitute a dedicated Private Public Partnership Cell within the Suchitwa Mission to integrate private sector participation in waste management activities.
Special Secretary T.V.Anupama issued the order sanctioning the creation of the cell earlier this week. The cell will serve as a nodal agency to develop comprehensive waste management strategies, attract private investments and coordinate with local self-government institutions across the State to provide them expert advice and assistance to initiate waste management projects on PPP model. The Suchitwa Mission Executive Director had earlier this year submitted a proposal to the government for the constituting such a cell. The cell has been constituted with an aim to overcome the practical difficulties that the department has been facing in implementing new waste management projects on the ground. The order for the creation of the cell acknowledges this fact, mentioning that the State is moving very slowly in setting up liquid waste management facilities due to protests, huge project cost and clearances. In such a scenario, PPP projects are envisaged for setting up compressed biogas plants mainly in urban clusters, faecal sludge treatment plants in identified clusters of 15 square kms and waste to energy plants. Early in January, The Hindu had reported that the government cancelled the waste-to-energy projects proposed for Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Kochi and Kollam due to various factors including unavailability of land and failure of the private agencies contracted for the work to achieve financial closure within the stipulated time period. The creation of a PPP cell is expected to take into consideration such issues before going ahead with various waste management projects.
Published - February 17, 2025 06:53 pm IST
