Chalakudy grapples with accumulated waste post floods
The waste, which includes plastic, wooden logs, pillows, sofa sets, clothes, etc has become a headache for the civic body.
Thrissur: Chalakudy Municipality, which is one among the worst-hit places in the state during the colossal floods in August, is grappling with the issue of disposing the waste that accumulated in the flood waters in 28 out of its 36 divisions.
The waste, which includes plastic, wooden logs, pillows, sofa sets, clothes, etc has become a headache for the civic body.
A total of 800 tonnes of waste is now piled up at the dumping yard of the civic body near the municipal office by Mannuthy-Angamaly four-lane NH after it was collected from different divisions.
“Out of the 800 tonnes of waste, we are facing issue in disposing 600 tonnes which is a mix of plastic, wooden logs and clothes. Apollo Tyres in Perembra near here will be taking away the sponge beds pillows and sets for reuse. Green Kerala has promised to accept cleaned plastic and Kudumabsree workers have been assigned the job of sorting the waste. Even then, will be several tonnes of waste left,” chairperson Jayanthy Praveenkumar said.
The civic body officials are now in consultation with the clay tiles units which uses wooden logs to bake tiles. The scrap merchants had also visited the dumpyard to check whether they can take any waste for reuse, she said.
However, the civic body officials do not have a clear cut plan on how to dispose the waste. Local people had protested against the further dumping of waste by the civic body by collecting them for the divisions.
On August 15 and 16, there was heavy flooding in Chalakudy River as the dams in Tamil Nadu were opened releasing huge amount of water to the river leading to the overflow of Peringalkuthu Dam upstream Athirappally Waterfalls.