Madikkai to be garbage-free

Madikkai panchayat here is set to be a garbage-free local body with the launch of a project for digging compost pits in houses for waste disposal.

District Collector D. Sajith Babu inaugurated the panchayat-level compost pit digging at Melapachery G.U.P. School here on Thursday.

According to a pressnote, the National Green Tribunal had ordered that Madikkai as well as Kinanur-Karinthalam and Bedadka panchayats should be made garbage-free.

At the function, Dr. Babu called for effective and co-ordinated measures to turn Madikkai into a garbage-free panchayat in a time-bound manner. The project for digging compost pits was included in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme.

Under the project, nearly 6,000 compost pits would be dug, with each house having two pits. Each pit with concrete lid could be used for dumping biodegradable waste for up to three months. Compost from the pits would be collected and distributed among farmers in the panchayat.

Panchayat president C. Prabhakaran presided over the function.