THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Varkala municipality has begun three-pronged waste management efforts to increase the cleanliness quotient of the coastal tourist town. Since the past seven years, several thousand tonnes of garbage was piling up in a defunct waste processing facility close to Mannadiar College. The beach town has come up with new collaborations to solve the problem. The first and major breakthrough came in the form of an understanding with Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL), which will use 1000 tonne waste from Varkala annually to fertilise their vertical gardens set up on metro line pillars.
“We have earmarked Rs 18 lakh for transporting around 1000 tonne of waste to Kochi. We hope to start delivery very soon,” said Varkala Municipality Vice Chairman Anijo S. Presently, vehicles pick up waste from beachside resorts at Papanasam. Many resorts that have poor access, deliver the waste at the helipad. However, most of this waste has been piling up. Secondly, by this month, Varkala was to sign an MoU with Pelican Foundation to pick up waste from all 33 wards. Plastic shredding units also were ordered.
“Thirdly, we have redesigned Thumboormozhi style aerobic bins in our own style to make it affordable. The present aerobic bin used to process a single tonne of waste in the city will cost Rs 15000. We have built a new one which costs around Rs 3000 per piece and have named it Varkala model aerobic bin,” Mr Anijo added. As per resort staffers, often the source management of waste gets affected due to the type of waste generated. “Our guests’ diet mostly consists of eggs, citric fruits and juices. And tomato ketchup is being used in abundance. So, the leftovers interfered with the biogas plant. Hence, complete de-centralisation of waste will not work in resorts,” said the manager of a resort at North Cliff.
