In what is being termed as a bid to evolve a political consensus for the introduction of a decentralised waste management system for the capital city and for the setting up of a garbage treatment plant at Chala, the State government has called for an all-party meeting here on Monday.
Leaders of major political parties and MLAs of Thiruvananthapuram are among those expected to take part in the meeting that has been called by Health Minister V.S. Sivakumar at Durbar Hall in the Secretariat.
“The meeting is mainly about evolving a political consensus about putting in place a decentralised, distributed, waste management system for the capital city. We need to find out various ways of going about this,” Mr. Sivakumar said here.
The meeting comes at a time when the mobile incinerator brought to the city in November last continues to be the sole means of waste disposal. Even though the Suchitwa Mission officially maintains that the ‘quarry option’ has not been abandoned, there are not many in the government who see this as an “immediate option” for waste management in the city.
Even before it was formally announced, the proposed plant at Chala kicked up its share of controversy. Mr. Sivakumar and Manjalamkuzhi Ali, Minister for Urban Affairs, have taken public positions that are almost diametrically opposite. While Mr. Ali has made it clear time and again that he sees the proposed Chala plant as a very viable option, Mr. Sivakumar—partly in deference to local protests against the plant — has called for the “evolution of a public consensus” on the issue. Mr. Ali has also repeatedly stated that the proposed plant would treat only the solid waste generated in the Chala area.
“Yes, Monday’s meeting will also discuss the Chala plant question. Things need to be taken forward… a date needs to be finalised for the plant’s launch,” Mr. Ali told The Hindu on Sunday. The mobile incinerator would soon be moved to Chala so that the garbage that had piled up at the site of the proposed plant could be cleared, he added.
