Aerobic composting and community composting hold the key to addressing garbage treatment problems at the local level in a simplified manner, former Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said.
Bio bins too must be made optimal use of. Above all, workers engaged in collecting and treating garbage must be given their due respect and remuneration. Their standard of life too must improve, he said on Saturday, while inaugurating HEAL (Health Environment Agriculture Environment), a model scheme to ensure cleanliness and scientific processing of garbage in a decentralised manner, which has been rolled out by the Kochi Corporation. It aims to sort and collect garbage from homes and convert bio-degradable waste into manure in Corporation divisions.
Mr. Isaac said sorting garbage at the decentralised level held the key to its scientific processing. Each locale must have a protocol to ensure that household and other garbage is scientifically treated. In addition, children must be roped in, since they brim with energy and creative ideas. Schools can give them science projects like composting.
“Kochi can even find a place in UNESCO’s creatively developed spaces, if artists and designers are roped in to ensure cleanliness of the city. The city must have a road that is a ‘green corridor’. In addition, buildings constructed using green technology must be given tax sops,” he added.
Mayor M. Anilkumar said efforts were on to convert the stretch from Abraham Madamakkal Road near the High Court to DH Ground as a green/heritage corridor, considering the innumerable buildings of historical importance on the stretch. He expressed concern at many families not opting for the services of door-to-door garbage collectors.
Representatives of residents and trader associations, IMA, Indian Institute of Architects, CREDAI, colleges, hotels, and the Rotary Club were among those who spoke. They called for roping in children to do social auditing of cleanliness and garbage treatment to lessen the volume of plastic and other garbage that is generated, to convert garbage into compost through treatment after dumping them in medians beneath the metro corridor and other spaces. They also sought the installation of more CCTV cameras to deter people from dumping garbage and steps to ensure clean and encroachment-free canals and drains.
