The collection and management of household refuse in the Corporation divisions will be streamlined shortly.
Workers of the Kochi Corporation who are engaged in door-to-door collection of refuse would be soon replaced with Kudumbasree or other specialised agencies. The coordination and management of the garbage collection activities in each of the Corporation division will be performed by Haritha Karma Sena (Green Action Force). Each division will have its own action force.
The Kochi Corporation council meeting scheduled to be held on Tuesday will discuss a proposal to this effect.
The idea, originally mooted by the State government, also proposes to nominate an active Kudumbasree unit or self-help group or any such organisation as the Green Action Force. If no agency is available to function as the Green Action Force, the local self-government itself should form a unit, said a directive issued by the State government.
One of the mandates of the agency would be to coordinate the activities to make the areas that come under its jurisdiction waste-free.
“The directive is expected to free the workers of the civic body engaged in the collection of waste from households of the responsibility. The workers can now be fully utilised for regular works of the civic body,” said V.K. Minimol, chairperson of the Health Standing Committee of the Kochi Corporation.
“In city areas like west Kochi, workers of the civic body are mostly engaged in the door-to-door collection of refuse. A user fee of ₹100 each is also collected from residents. After the introduction of the Kudumbasree or any other agency for the collection of refuse, the residents need to pay the fee to the agencies concerned,” she said.
For the common waste management facilities provided by the civic body, the cost shall be borne by the users themselves. The government has also directed local bodies to collect half the value of the facility at one go from the users and collect the rest of the amount in 10 to 12 equal installments. Local bodies were also instructed to support the initiative by providing the viability gap for the project.
