The Local Self Government department (LSGD) and the State Pollution Control Board (PCB) in Kerala on Thursday announced that they would join hands with the CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST) for research and development to address environmental pollution and waste-management issues.
The announcement was made at the inaugural ceremony of the thematic session on clean-up technologies, Prithvi, held as part of the ongoing ‘One Week One Lab (OWOL)’ programme of the CSIR-NIIST. Firming up the partnership, the LSGD and the PCB would soon ink a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the institute, which has already provided several technology services to the State entities.
15,000 tonnes a day
Inaugurating the session, M.G. Rajamanickam, Principal Director, LSGD, said lack of space was a serious issue in Kerala’s waste management system. Citing a study, he said, Kerala was generating 15,000 tonnes of waste a day which comes close to five million tonnes annually. “When the government’s processing capacity is only 10%, where does the remaining garbage go?” he asked.
Mr. Rajamanickam said deepening the collaboration with the CSIR-NIIST by the LSGD was expected to help in pollution-control activities. He also inaugurated the facility for Geospatial Modelling and Analysis set up at the CSIR-NIIST, and launched ‘Jaivam’, a bio medium for aerobic composting of food waste, developed by scientists at the institute.
Presiding over the function, C. Anandharamakrishnan, Director, CSIR-NIIST, said the institute had developed technologies for bio medical waste and it had been transferred to a start-up in Ernakulam.
