The Local Self-Government Department (LSGD) has insisted that local bodies register vehicles used for transporting waste to track their movement to ensure that the waste is reaching the designated treatment facilities.
Currently, there is no mechanism in most local bodies to track and regulate the movement of vehicles that transport such wastes.
The National Green Tribunal had in a judgment in July, regarding the dumping of garbage in public spaces, ordered for the creation of a mechanism for registering the vehicles that are entrusted with carrying waste to be disposed at designated dump sites or treatment facilities, in order to supervise and to track the movement of such vehicles to find out whether the waste that is being entrusted to them is really reaching the designated treatment facilities. The LSGD’s order to local bodies comes in this context.
Local bodies or their support systems, including the Clean Kerala Company Limited or other agencies which are engaged by the local bodies for garbage collection, are supposed to follow the directives. According to the guidelines, recyclable, non biodegradable waste can be sold to the recycling agencies or their aggregators at a price not less than the rate notified by the Clean Kerala Company. The non-recyclable waste is to be removed through the company.
The local bodies can engage authorised agencies for removal of non-recyclable waste provided they possess valid consent to operate from the Pollution Control Board and a valid agreement with a disposal facility such as engineered sanitary landfills or furnace-based industries like cement kilns. The agencies selected for removal and transportation of non-recyclable waste should declare the destination where the waste is proposed to be disposed of and the local body or the Clean Kerala Company should verify and ensure whether the destination is suitable for safe disposal.
All the vehicles that are entrusted with the transportation of waste to disposal or recycling facilities should be registered with the hiring agency from where waste is being collected. Clean Kerala Company and local bodies need to keep a separate record of vehicles registered by them for this purpose. The vehicles should be fitted with GPS and tracking systems.
For transporting waste from source to location of treatment, a detailed manifest has to be maintained by the agencies engaged. After the transportation of the waste is complete, the copy of the manifest should be signed by the receiver at the treatment facility, and this should be submitted to the hiring agency within seven days. The local bodies can impose fines, terminate the agreement, or forfeit the amount payable in case of violations. The order has to be complied within 45 days.
