90% subsidy for compost plants

In an effort to give a major boost to the pipe composting scheme and encourage more people to avail of the scheme, the State government has issued an order increasing the subsidy for composting plants to 90 per cent. As per the order issued on Wednesday, the State government's subsidy share for the scheme has been increased to 75 per cent from the existing 50 per cent while the local body concerned will contribute 15 per cent.

As of now, the total amount fixed per pipe composting unit (consisting of two pipes) is Rs.893. As per the new Government Order increasing the subsidy amount, beneficiaries will have to pay only around Rs.90 to install composting units in their households.

A meeting convened by Local Self-Government Department Principal Secretary James Varghese on Wednesday also decided to directly involve accredited agencies of Suchitwa Mission in PVC pipe procurement and distribution in order to avoid delay in implementing the pipe composting scheme. A senior government official said that the city Corporation, which had fallen under the scanner for causing major delay in implementing the scheme, would be directed to give advance amount to the accredited agencies that would then buy pipes in bulk.

The government had already transferred Rs.5.75 crore to the Corporation for the project. “The amount was granted to install one lakh pipe compost units in the city in March. When the Corporation said that the amount was insufficient due to price hike, the government agreed to bear the extra amount of Rs.80 per unit. Despite all this the Corporation was able to install only around 10,000 units. In this context and considering the serious public health situation in the city, the government has decided to intervene and expedite the implementation of the scheme,” the official said.

New beneficiaries

“One of the reasons that led to the delay was the involvement of too many intermediate agencies. This will now be solved by directly involving accredited agencies that will buy the pipes and get them installed with the aid of agencies such as Kudumbasree. We expect to clear the backlog in the project within a week. New beneficiaries can avail the subsidy by contacting their ward councillors.”