Specially assigned vehicles would collect refuse, including food waste, from hotels and restaurants and marriage halls in the city from May 1.
Incidentally, the Kochi Corporation, in its annual budget, had stated that a user fee would be collected from April 1. The fee would be fixed based on the quantity of waste generated by the units, according to the budget speech presented by B. Bhadra, Deputy Mayor.
The local body is planning to track the movement of the special vehicles in the city in an attempt to collect user fee from commercial units that churn out huge quantities of refuse. Currently, hoteliers are making “illegal” payments to the drivers and personnel on the lorries that gather refuse from the city.
The waste generated by the commercial units is processed at the expense of the local body at the solid waste treatment plant of thee Kochi Corporation at Brahmapuram.
The commercial units will be made to pay for the processing of the waste they generate and the practice of collecting and processing waste free of cost will be curbed, said Tony Chammany, Kochi Mayor.
A meeting of the hotel and restaurant owners will be convened shortly to discuss the proposal.
A system for tracking the vehicles collecting waste from commercial units will also be introduced. Those generating the waste in large quantities, including the marriage halls, are supposed to have their own processing system to treat the waste at source, said Mr. Chammany. The waste generated by those who refuse to pay will not be lifted.
They have the freedom to transport the waste to the treatment plant and pay the processing fee there, he said.
Meanwhile, the office bearers of the Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Owners Association said they were willing to pay for the collection and processing of waste.
Presently, the hoteliers pay “some” money to the staff of the local body manning the vehicle that comes for the collection of waste. Some others give gifts to the drivers, said Jose Mohan, general secretary of the association.
The association, which has around 600 members, including hotels and restaurants in the city, is of the view that fee should be charged in accordance to the weight of refuse generated by each unit. Suggestions regarding the fee structure will be presented at the meeting to be convened by the local body, Mr. Mohan said.
