Threat of disease hangs heavy in Kochi
Undisposed garbage piles up at Ponnurunny, Edappally corporation office
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-06-18 07:01 GMT
KOCHI: Even as the city corporation boasts of having a waste treatment plant at Brahmapuram which is capable of treating solid waste from neighbouring panchayats and municiplaities, waste removal from many parts of the city areas are irregular.
Huge piles of garbage are seen in west Kochi areas, Ponnurunny, Vyttila and near the Edappally corporation zone office. Corporation councillors raised apprehensions over accumulation of waste in the city as many areas are already under the threat of outbreak of monsoon diseases.
During a recent council meeting, CPM councillor Adv. N.A. Shafeeq raised the issue and asked the health department to take immediate steps to clear the garbage. When it rains heavily, garbage floats on the water and gets blocked in drains and canals, a major reason for the increase in mosquito population.
Fort Kochi councillor Adv. Antony Kureethara, a UDF member, alleged that despite repeated requests, the health wing was not taking steps to remove garbage heaps accumulated along roadsides.
“The covered vehicles and trucks for transporting waste cater only to central city areas. When health officials were requested to send a vehicle, the junior health inspector gave a fake report that there was no waste accumulation in the area,” said Adv. Kureethara. Meanwhile, several cases of dengue fever, viral fever and chikungunya.