Thiruvananthapuram corporation to train staff on managing waste safely

Thiruvananthapuram: The city corporation will hold an awareness session soon on the dangers of burning waste for people who burn them - sanitation workers. Officials say that while the new recruits have understood why they should not burn the waste, the senior sanitation workers do it by habit. In a city which has means like aerobic bins to deal with dry leaves, sanitation workers resort to burning right next to the bins. Deputy Mayor Rakhi Ravikumar says, “they have been instructed not to burn waste. But the quantity of leaves might be in excess. Since it is just leaves, there might not be a big issue.”

Usually, plastic also gets burnt. “The training session will inform sanitation workers of the dangers of burning plastic. The health risks of being exposed to dioxins will be shared,” says an official. Even if they are burning only leaves, this will lead to an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and contribute to the warming phenomena, according to experts. Moreover, it increases urban heat island effect, they say. “The heat produced due to burning and other activities in cities does not escape cities. The city absorbs more of this heat,” says Roxy Mathew Koll, climate scientist, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune.

Many have said that consent is implicit in the corporation’s silence and in its inability to take action against the offenders. However, corporation officials say that their hands are tied, especially as a list of penalties under its Waste Management Bylaw is yet to be passed by the LSGD. Once the bylaws come into effect, disciplinary action will be taken agaainst sanitation workers.