Thiruvananthapuram: Environmentalist Claude Alvares admits to being saddened by his visit to the city as it is no longer clean and green like it was when he visited it 10 years ago.
"Thiruvananthapuram used to be beautiful, but now there is a smell of plastic burning all over the city. I took a morning stroll to breathe in some fresh air but instead had to put up with this instead,” he regrets.
If green activists are unhappy it is with reason as the state is clearly sitting on a toxic waste bomb in the absence of a proper mechanism for garbage management. With no means of disposing plastic, most people end up burning it despite the serious health hazard this poses. Only a few store it till the scrap dealer comes calling for re-cycling.
A study by Thanal, an NGO, says on an average a single household in Kerala generates 45.29 kgs of organic (slow decaying) and non biodegradable discards. “Pet bottles, carry bags, wrappers and milk sachets constitue almost 72 per cent of plastic discards,” says Shibu K. Nair of Thanal. The problem then is clearly huge and serious as inhaling the fumes of burning plastic can lead to asthma, pneumonia and even lung cancer.
“You are inhaling chemical fumes when plastic is burnt. It causes hyper sensitivity and can trigger severe asthma attacks and pneumonia,” says Dr. M. Joshi, professor of respiratory medicine at the Sree Gokulam Medical College, who also reports seeing an increase in lung cancers over the years.
The effects of plastic can be dreadful on animals too. Before plastic was banned at the Thiruvananthapuram Zoo many spotted deer and Hippopotamus died of suffocation on consuming plastic carry bags.
But ask Thiruvananthapuram mayor K. Chandrika about waste disposal and she says she is helpless as the city’s one million people produce about 300 tonnes of rubbish a day and there is no proper system in place to dispose of it.
The corporation's efforts to dump the rubbish at Vilappilsala and the Murukumpuzha railway platform have not been successful and the Palayam shredder remains a distant dream, she points out.
“There were issues with the plastic shredder installed at the Palayam market. Fortunately the PWD has come forward to take 20 tonnes of plastic waste for the time being to make roads,” she adds.
If the Thiruvananthapuram corporation claims to be helpless in dealing with the more hazardous garbage generated by the city, the Kerala State Pollution Control Board has not made burning of plastic a punishable offence either.
But its chairman, K. Sajeevan says “ We have always advised the public to burn waste including plastics under high temperature so that no toxic gas is released.”
Also, the board has approached Malabar Cements to produce cement using 10 tonnes of plastic waste every day and intends to instruct all municipalities to cooperate with it on the project, he reveals. “Malabar Cements will start using plastic in another five to six months. We will provide an initial investment of RS 20 lakh to set up a plastic shredding unit,” he adds.
Chairman of the Kerala State Biodiversity Board, Prof. Oommen V. Oommen, however, suggests self-help may be the best solution. “All residents associations should persuade people to segregate their waste. And then some of them could be entrusted with collecting and disposing the plastic waste,” he says.
Next: Army captain leads clean-up in Kowdiar
Army captain leads clean-up in Kowdiar
Thiruvananthapuram: After enjoying the service provided by the Indian Army for a decade on solid waste management disposal, it was a rude shock for Capt. K. Ranjini when she realized that there was no form of waste disposal in one of the posh wards in the capital city.
39-year-old Captain Ranjini, a resident of Kowdiar Gardens (B) residents association first decided to form an association and secondly rallied all the 54 families against the plastic menace.
She arranged for a scrap dealer to come every month to the colony and collect the plastic waste so he could take it to the plastic crusher unit. Out of 100 wards in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, only Kowdiar Gardens (B) residents association can proudly stand tall amidst the lackadaisical attitude of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.
“All the 54 house owners segregate food waste and plastic materials. We are happy that our sack-load of plastic gets disposed off. Compared to the initial stages, a majority of the residents have brought down the usage of plastic too”, said Capt. Ranjini, who had served as a nurse.
Capt. K. Ranjini
According to scrap dealer Ramesh Kumar, he takes more than 800 kilo of plastic from Kowdiar Gardens (B) residents association alone.
“Everyday people dump around 100-250 kilo of plastic at my family run scrap shop at Peroorkada in the city. We take the plastic waste to a private plastic crusher unit at Chalai market. I get Rs 1.50 per kilo of plastic bags and Rs 15 for plastic buckets. Fortunately due to non waste management disposal in the city here, our scrap business is thriving”, said Kumar.
According to Paraniyam Devakumar, general secretary of the Federation of Residents Associations Thiruvananthapuram (FRAT), at some areas in the capital city, there are Kudumbashree workers who come once a week to pick up waste.
Next: IMA shows a way to handle medical waste
IMA shows a way to handle medical waste
Thiruvananthapuram: Indian Medical Association’s IMAGE (IMA Goes Eco-friendly) which started nine years ago has been disposing off biomedical waste from both private and Government hospitals across the length and breadth of the State by incinerating it at its 26-acre plant.
The plant called Common Biomedical Waste Treatment and Disposal Facility (CBWTDF) is in Kanjikode in Palakkad district. IMAGE handles more than two-thirds of Kerala’s biomedical waste every day. This is the first time in the country, a medical association is doing commendable service to the public.
IMAGE has been providing training to hospital staff for segregation of biomedical waste in separate colour coded bags and then it is transported in specially designed covered vehicles, scientific treatment and final disposal in the incinerator.
According to IMAGE chairman Dr. C. K. Chandrasekharan, the infectious waste generated from hospitals is disposed off very scientifically within 48 hours causing no harm to the public at the CBWTDF.
This is in accordance with the provision of the Biomedical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 1998 and with the approval and guidance of Kerala State Pollution Control Board.
“Biomedical waste is treated and disposed off from both Government and private hospitals situated between Kasargode andThiruvananthapuram. More than 5000 hospitals, clinics and diagnostic labs are affiliated under us and that has prevented the spreading of communicable diseases to a large extent.
Very soon we will add four more incinerators”, said Dr. Chandrasekharan to DC. IMAGE is based on the concept of users sharing the cost. While private hospitals pay an affiliation fee of Rs 1,600 per bed and Rs 4. 50 per day as service charge, Government hospitals don’t have any affiliation fee.
