Thiruvananthapuram Corporation asks Pelican Foundation to remove waste
No penalty, but Pelican still keeps rebutting Corp findings.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A waste pile in Kamaleshwaram market, which will be almost 7 loads, is now spread over 10 cents. The Thiruvananthapuram Corporation put the blame on the waste management service provider, Pelican Foundation, for this unseemly sight. But even as the Corporation plans to issue a notice to the service provider, the latter refutes the charges. When asked if there will be any penalties, a health wing official said Pelican would only be asked to move the waste. “The lady staff at Pelican Foundation collected the waste, took out the better plastic and left behind low-value unsegregated waste. The Corporation Secretary has decided to issue a notice to the service provider,” an official says.
Representatives from the service provider say that the pile was actually created by local residents. Moreover, they have written to the Corporation to help stop this, but even a simple request to repair the market gate, to keep outsiders from entering the compound was not heeded to, according to them. Even when the gate was locked, people hurl garbage into the compound, they say.
“We have submitted several representations to allow us a material recovery facility, where we can segregate the waste, as well as campaigning. We did try to use the compound for some time. During former Mayor K. Chandrika’s tenure, we had written to Matsyafed to see if a small space can be allocated to us. However, the Corporation did not even follow up on this. We have received no support from the Corporation to keep the service going,” says a representative of the service provider.
They also add that Sasthamangalam, where Pelican is the service provider, has been one of the wards known for best kitchen bin installation. Earlier, during Attukal Pongala, one load of waste from the market was removed with the help of an agency which has been linking the Corporation’s plastic waste to recyclers in Tamil Nadu. However, the Corporation’s agreement with the agency has expired.