For years, Erumakuzhy has been synonymous with large mounds of waste. Around five years ago, an attempt was made to bury the waste and reclaim the land for useful purposes.
However, waste continued to be dumped here, even after the existing waste was buried. Now, the city Corporation seems to have finally managed to clear and segregate much of the waste accumulated there over the years. The work is expected to be completed in a week or two.
The work on clearing the dump yard at Erumakuzhy began around four months ago, during the COVID-19-induced lockdown. The civic body had during that time rehabilitated several people who were living on the streets and accommodated them in schools and other facilities. A group of them joined sanitation workers hired by the Corporation as part of a big effort to clear the waste and segregate it.
Heaps of plastic waste of all kinds, broken glass pieces, foot wear, bags and other waste were recovered and segregated. Before they began cleaning up, a total station survey was carried out to ascertain the amount of waste in the dump yard, according to which the area had around 2,000–2,500 cubic metres of waste.
“We first employed earth movers to overturn the heap. The workers then went about removing and segregating the waste. A truckload of glass waste was taken away by a recycling agency. Now, we have truckloads of plastic waste, old footwear, coconut shells and other waste remaining. This will be taken through a bailing process at the Corporation’s facility at Manacaud, to compress the waste so that it will be easier to transport it. After this, it will be handed over to the Clean Kerala company,” said Prakash, Health Supervisor of the city Corporation, who oversaw the project.
The Corporation plans to set up a garden in a part of the land. A resource recovery centre for collection and segregation of waste will also be set up. There are also plans to turn it into a park, following the model tried at Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh.
The civic body is also planning to take up a similar project to clear the dump yard behind the Palayam market. The project has been tendered as part of the Corporation’s Smart City Project. The dumping yard at the Palayam market will be cleaned and used for parking, as part of the market improvement plan of the Smart City project.
