Thiruvananthapuram corporation manure shops' swell, become useless

Thiruvananthapuram: The Corporation has not yet been able to succeed in its effort to start a recovery centre that could act as a one-stop organic fertiliser shop to sell the compost it produces. Around a dozen of aerobic bins and organic waste converter machines have been producing tonnes of compost. However, due to lack of consistency in compost generation, bringing out its own brand of fertilisers has become a far-fetched idea. “The compost we get out of aerobic bin are excellent for kitchen gardens. Now garden enthusiasts directly collect manure from aerobic bin facilities such as the one at Erumakkuzhy and Poojapura,” said a senior corporation official.

However, many other aerobic bins in the city have been swelling with waste or have been rendered useless due to poor maintenance. The lack of manpower to run the aerobic bins have been cited as reason. Before 16 years, when Vilappilsala waste processing plant was functional, corporation used to sell manure to Fertlisers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT) for around Rs 2 per kg. FACT, further, used to sells it for an increased margin. “Now, all the compost that generated today are distributed free of cost. This happens at around the same time when corporation was scouting for more revenue generating sources. Compost we generate is plastic free and can be called black gold,” the official added.