Government okays Thiruvananthapuram Corp's Swachh Bharat DPR

Thiruvananthapuram: The state government has finally issued an order giving approval to Thiruvananthapuram Corporation's Swachh Bharat DPR. The Corporation received the order this week.

The state-level empowered committee (SLEC) had responded positively to the Corporation, when the latter made a presentation on the DPR, a second time. 

However, the meeting was towards the end of October, and now it is almost two months. Since the project had not got an approval the first time, the Corporation was eagerly waiting for the state's nod.

No changes were made to the DPR even though it was not approved the first time. The Corporation has proposed a project based on its decentralised waste management projects. There are kitchen bin projects, aerobic bins and biogas plants proposed in the over Rs 33-crore DPR. The DPR was prepared internally by the Corporation's health wing, and had cost the civic body no extra charge. Earlier they had invited proposals from private consultants, but the lowest quote was Rs 15 lakhs, a tad high for the Corporation.  

The project did not go through the first time, as the state committee had just proposed a centralised plant in Thiruvananthapuram. According to the minutes, the DPR of Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation and Malappuram Municipality had to be reviewed so as "to avoid duplication of projects and ensure that the components of process involved in the centralised plants are not repeated in the DPR." 

However the proposal for the plant has been facing serious issues from the people of Peringammala, the site where the plant is proposed. Recently at a meeting at the District Collectorate, Collector K.Vasuki reportedly said that she was not aware of the site chosen to be in such an ecologically sensitive area. 

Under these circumstances, even if the proposed plant doesn't materialise, Thiruvananthapuram Corporation has eco-friendly alternatives in its DPR.