Action plan to follow up cleaning drive in Kottayam

Collection centres for non-degradable waste to be opened

The Kottayam district administration, which carried out a massive clean up initiative in the district on May 11 and 12, has now come out with an action plan to follow-up the drive.

The plan envisages the civic bodies to focus on preventing waste dumping in places that have been cleaned already. Further, the public places and water bodies that are left out in the initial phase should be cleaned up with assistance of the MGNREGS programme.

As per the plan, all the civic bodies are required to engage the Haritha Karama Sena to ensure timely collection of waste from houses and institutions. The local bodies are also required to open collection centres for non-degradable waste.

Further, stringent action should be taken against polluting water bodies.

While hotels and other commercial establishments should set up waste disposal facilities, non-degradable waste should be collected under the aegis of Haritha Karma Sena.

Dry day should be observed once in every week to prevent the outbreak of communicable diseases. Further, health volunteers should visit the households in regular intervals.

Attending the review meeting, Civil Supplies minister P. Thilothaman called for serious interventions to inculcate the sense of cleanliness among the public.

“Cleaning activities should be reviewed right from panchayat ward to district level.

Any shortcomings should be rectified. Moreover, collective efforts are required to preserve and free public water resources from pollution. We should also ensure free flow of water to water bodies during the rainy season,” he said.

Coordination

The Minister also called for the coordination of various government departments in ensuring the cleaning activities across the district.

“Civic bodies must ensure the continuation of the cleaning programme while other departments lend their support. We can easily prevent the outbreak of communicable diseases if cleanliness is ensured at a grass root level,” he said.

Tourism secretary Rani George, who presented the guidelines for follow-up action, directed the officers concerned to ensure that collected garbage is removed in a time-bound manner.