Haritha Keralam to clean up rivers in Ghats region

The Haritha Keralam Mission will join hands with local bodies and other departments to clean up rivers and streams in the Western Ghats region to ensure natural drainage under plans to prevent further landslips and mudslides in the region, Minister for Local Self Governments M.V. Govindan has said.

Speaking at a meeting of the Haritha Keralam Mission here on Friday, he said the ongoing campaign titled ‘Ini Njan Ozhukatte’ (Let me flow), will be organised in the region with wide public participation.

He said a Smart garbage mobile application would be launched to ensure effective collection and processing of non biodegradable garbage by Haritha Karma Senas in local bodies, with a pilot launch in 300 panchayats in the first phase.

This would be later extended to all local bodies. The meeting also decided to coordinate scientific methods for managing and processing solid waste. The manure generated from these would be used widely across the State for agricultural purposes, he said.

A scientific action plan and guidelines would be prepared in association with the Kannur University, the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM), and experts in the field for the creation of carbon neutral panchayats. Based on the guidelines, training programmes would be organised for various local bodies.