The LDF district committee has decided to organise protests in front of the Chief Minister's residence from January 21 demanding an immediate solution to the garbage treatment issue in the city.
CPI(M) district unit secretary Kadakampally Surendran stated this here on Friday. As many as 100 LDF workers would join the protest to be led by Mayor K. Chandrika on the first day.
The Deputy Mayor and 49 other councillors will lead the protest on the subsequent days. A protest march to the Secretariat will be held on January 18 and a meeting will be held at Gandhi Park on January 19.
Mr. Surendran said the government would even try to make use of the garbage issue to curb the Corporation's power.
It was a one-sided decision of the grama panchayat, with the support of the UDF government, to close down the Villapilsala waste treatment plant. By closing down the plant, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was trying to keep a promise that he had made, then as the Leader of the Opposition, during an Assembly election rally.
The plant was closed down at a time when the construction of the Rs.35-crore leachate treatment plant was about to be completed. If this work was completed — which was expected to take two more months — half the problems that the city was facing today could be solved, he said.
When asked whether the LDF was demanding the reopening of the plant, he replied that the UDF government, which had decided to shut down the plant, would have to accept their responsibility and make further decision.
The LDF leader said they were extending all support to solve the issue.
The Corporation had initiated measures for decentralised disposal of waste and limiting the use of plastic.. It was now up to the government to take a decision on this matter, he added.
