Waste dumping: talks held to allay fears

The City Corporation and Suchitwa Mission officials held discussions with representatives of local people at Murukumpuzha on Monday after the latter raised concerns over the dumping of garbage from the city at the Murukumpuzha railway station as part of a platform extension project.

At the meeting, that was presided over by Circle Inspector of Police, Kazhakuttom, C. Binu Kumar, the officials promised the people that the dumping of garbage at the platform would be done in a scientific manner.

The officials agreed to the residents’ representatives’ demands that polythene sheets be placed under the garbage layer to avoid leachate leak. It was also decided to use ample amount of sand in between the compacted layers of garbage.

“The local people expressed reservations about the movement of garbage trucks at night. Hence, we agreed to stop transportation of garbage after 6 p.m. We also agreed to their demand that only one truck be allowed at the construction site at a time to avoid traffic congestion,” Suchitwa Mission executive director George Chackachery said.

As per the understanding, from Tuesday, movement of garbage from the city will begin in the morning itself.

“Only then can we transport at least 10 truckloads of garbage a day,” said Corporation health officer D. Sreekumar.

200 loads

Around 200 loads of solid waste from the city are expected to be transported to Murukumpuzha in the next 10 days as part of the project under which waste will be used as filler material for construction of railway platform.

Meanwhile, protest is mounting against the Corporation and Mayor K. Chandrika for their handling of the waste disposal issue. On Tuesday, United Democratic Front (UDF) district committee members, UDF councillors and Youth Congress activists took out a march to the Corporation office in protest against the alleged assault on UDF councillors by some Corporation employees’ union members. The march led to some tense scenes after some Youth Congress activists tried to barge into the Corporation office compound. They were, however, blocked by the police. The protestors also burnt the Mayor in effigy.