Kerala: Disposal of tube lights sparks row

Thiruvananthapuram: A budget allocation which is being lauded is Rs 10 crore set aside for the LED streetlight project along Kovalam-Kazhakkoottam bypass. But, it is important that corporation makes provisions to dispose of tube lights, which will be replaced with LED lights, say experts.Tube lights have been dumped at various points in the city, says heritage enthusiast and academician Achuth Shankar.

“The solar-powered LED streetlight project is admirable. However, corporation should also chalk out a plan to dispose of tube lights. There is a big heap of burnt-out tube lights near Power House Road. The mercury in it is very dangerous,” he says.The corporation had earlier refused to take tube lights from KSEB, as the quantity was huge, and its recycling cost is very high.

E-Waste Management Rules in the country makes the producer of e-waste responsible for dealing with it. Suchitwa Mission executive director K. Vasuki says that it will be possible to invoke this provision in this case.
“While it is someone else who creates a mess, the government is expected to clear it. So internationally, responsibility is being shifted to the producer. The corporation can write to the manufacturer of tube lights, and get the support of State Pollution Control Board should it encounter a problem,” she says.
EPR is supposed to be enforced from May onwards, but it might be possible to implement it with retrospective effect, she adds.

However, the tube lights may not be treated as waste in the first place, and could be reused in other areas, says a Corporation official. But eventually even those tube lights will be burnt out, and the corporation will have to put a system in place to dispose of it.