“I never thought waste management was this easy. Now I know that it requires only a little bit of planning and the will to do it,” Gangadharan, a resource person representing the Puthiyara ward in Kozhikode Corporation, could not hide his enthusiasm. After attending the three-hour session on waste management, the 227 resource persons from various wards in the Corporation, like Mr.Gangadharan, are eager to impart what they have learnt and to see it implemented.
The awareness and preparatory programme on waste management was held as part of a cleanliness drive being organised by the Kozhikode Corporation under the theme ‘Suchitwa Nagaram Sundara Nagaram’, which took off on Saturday. Each ward was represented in the programme by its councillor besides three to five resource persons who will now be the facilitators of change in their respective wards. They have been asked to create ward committees and street committees by November 15 to ensure the smooth functioning of the campaign.
The sessions were handled by Head of the Department of Community Medicine at Government Medical College, Kozhikode, Jayakrishnan; architect K.P. Ramesh and Babu Parambath, representing the Niravu Farmers’ Club. Mayor A.K. Premajam presided. Leader of the Opposition M.T. Padma and Health Standing Committee chairperson Janamma Kunhunni spoke on the occasion.
The first phase of the campaign comprises formation of resource team, local committees, sanitation clubs and implementation cell, making arrangements to store non-biodegradable waste, preparing a route map and time for waste collection and finding agencies to collect waste. The second phase involves creating awareness while the third phase is actual cleaning. By January 2015, the city will be declared waste-free and the fourth phase of the project, which involves keeping up the tempo of the programme, will take off.
