Meat and fish stalls, vegetable markets, banana shops, hotels and restaurants will be required to install waste management units, under a government move to ensure better sanitation facilities.
Minister for Local Self-Government K.T. Jaleel told a press conference here on Thursday that commercial outlets would have to establish the waste processing facility within their premises or in rented space. He said the government would come out with legislation to ensure compliance but only after talks with traders.
Dr. Jaleel said 500 sanitation workers would be appointed in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation to improve waste collection and disposal. The government, he said, intended to impose a ban on plastic carrybags before long. All local bodies had been directed to establish plastic shredding units. The shredded plastic would be handed over to the Public Works Department for use in road surfacing.
Land for investors
The government would provide land for private investors willing to set up modern waste management plants.
Dr. Jaleel said local bodies had been asked to step up the Animal Birth Control programme for sterilization of stray dogs. Private agencies would be roped in if the Kudumbasree Mission, the nodal agency for the programme, finds it difficult to handle it on its own.