Haritha mission in dark over new waste rule

Thiruvananthapuram: The Haritha Keralam Mission has been kept in the dark about the cabinet decision giving state government the power to take over waste management functions from urban local bodies, should the government feel like. When DC enquired whether the government was indeed planning to amend section 326 of the Kerala Municipality Act, mission vice-chairperson T.N. Seema replied, “Don’t know. Just read it in news.” When asked if there was any discussion based on this, she replied, “Not yet.”

The state government has not yet discussed the decision with urban local bodies either. Thiruvananthapuram Mayor V.K. Prasanth said that he had unofficially enquired about the decision. “From what I learnt, the ordinance enables the state government to establish waste management plants requiring huge capital. This was not possible with the existing Municipality Act. It does not put an end to the existing waste management systems,” he said.

It was last week that the Cabinet decided to promulgate an ordinance enabling the state government to take over the waste management function, where urban local bodies had ‘failed’. LSGD principal secretary T.K. Jose told DC, “the ordinance has clauses which enable the state government to take over waste management function. Earlier waste management was a mandatory function of municipalities and corporations. Now, there will be provisions for the state government to intervene, where it feels there is a need.”

He added that this does not mean that the state government will immediately take over waste management function of all urban local bodies. “The existing Kerala Municipality Act does not allow the state to intervene, wherever there are huge dumpsites by the road and no processing plant. The ordinance solves this issue,” he said.

The state government had started procedures to establish centralised waste management plants in various urban local bodies in August 2017. Now, KSIDC has been made the nodal agency to see this through.