The State Pollution Control Board has started making a random assessment of the solid waste management scenario in households across five municipalities in Ernakulam.
The civic bodies include Kalamassery, Aluva, Angamaly, Thrikkakara and Thripunitura. The board had earlier assessed environment compensation for the five municipalities for their failure to comply with the provisions of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.
The civic bodies had filed a report before the board explaining the steps taken at the household-level for effective management of biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste. Senior board officials said that a technical survey was progressing to ascertain whether the claims made by the civic bodies were true.
“We will take stock of the source-level treatment methods in select houses in each ward. A score sheet will be prepared based on the guidelines prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB),” they said. A total score of 100 is given for different activities. The percentage of achievement is calculated based on the data sheet on solid waste management submitted by the local body.
The team deployed for survey will visit at least 10 homes in each ward across the five municipalities. They will check whether the households have facilities like biogas plants and bio-bins for decentralised waste management. An assessment of the management of non-biodegradable waste will be done as part of the survey.
A decision on whether to revise the environment compensation imposed on the municipalities will be taken based on the findings of the survey. The compensation assessed for the five municipalities are ₹2.77 crore for Kalamassery, ₹1.72 crore for Aluva, ₹1.96 crore for Angamaly, ₹2.92 crore for Thrikkakara and ₹2.72 crore for Thripunitura as on July 31, 2020.
Despite fixing the compensation, the board was not able to impose it for want of clarity on the guidelines to be followed while fixing it on cities coming under Class II and below categories for violation of the SWM Rules, 2016. It had sought the response of the CPCB on the guidelines to be followed while fixing the environment compensation on cities coming under Class II and below categories for violation of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.
