THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Relatively unpopulated areas in the city are turning into targets for unauthorised agencies to dump fecal waste collected from households. In the New Year week, Ulloor zonal office collected Rs 63,000 as fine, of which Rs 50,000 were from two parties who were about to empty honeysucker (a vacuum truck used to empty septic tanks and latrines) by the side of the road near the National Institute of Speech and Hearing (NISH).
Though Thiruvananthapuram Corporation has been slapping penalties amounting to Rs 25,000, officials say that this has not been enough to deter owners of honeysucker trucks. They say that private agencies, which illegally charge Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 for clearing septic tanks, can recoup the money lost as fine in just one or two nights. “The Corporation has given no honeytruck licence. However, the honeytruck owners have no regard for rules, and are bonafide criminals,” says an official.
When the owners of these vehicles are traced, many a time it would turn out that they are not even from Thiruvananthapuram. One of the two who were fined was from Kollam. Earlier the Corporation had fined honeytruck owners from as far as Edakochi and Thrissur.
City residents turn to them as the Corporation has not been able to meet the demand for honeysucker trucks. The civic body owns four 4000-litre trucks. It might take almost 10 days for the Corporation’s truck to respond to a request for a truck. The health wing is reportedly preparing a proposal to buy three more trucks, two of 3000-litre capacity and one of 4000-litre capacity.
The areas near NISH, Akkulam-Bypass road, and Kazhakkoottam-Kattayikkonam road, are some of the spots preferred by honeytrucks. The officials are demanding that there be a camera in unpopulated places.
