A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Wednesday directed the State government to immediately consider granting the contract to Bayern Mercantile, a Germany-based company, for setting up a waste treatment plant on the 10 acres at Brahmapuram near Kochi.

The Bench comprising Justice C.N. Ramachandran Nair and Justice P.S. Gopinathan issued the directive after considering an affidavit filed by the State on the proposals made by the solid waste treatment companies.

Corporation, government still unsure about waste disposal

The civic authorities are bound to have a tough time dealing with the waste generated by the hordes of devotees that will arrive in the city for the Attukal pongala festival, in the backdrop of the ongoing agitation against the Vilappilsala solid waste treatment plant.

The Cabinet on Wednesday asked the Public Works Department (PWD) to prepare a detailed project report for disposing solid waste from Thrissur as part of construction of bunds for the Kole fields in the district.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told the media after the Cabinet meeting that this would be a solution to the issues over the waste treatment plant at Lalur near Thrissur. He hoped that social activist K. Venu, who was on a hunger strike over the issue, would end his strike in view of the Cabinet decision.

Residents resort to dumping of waste in open spaces

Import of truck-mounted incinerators planned
The State government proposes to import truck-mounted emergency incinerators to tackle the solid waste management problems in cities.

The Cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal in this regard and entrusted the purchase with the State Small Industries Development Corporation.

The inevitability of finding new dumping sites for garbage generated in the capital city was thrust to the fore on Monday when the collective will of the people of Vilappil panchayat sent back two

Operating agency to pull out of waste management project

Minister for Co-operation C. N. Balakrishnan has said that decentralisation of waste management was the only lasting solution for the garbage menace faced by the city.

Addressing the annual convention of the District Residents' Apex Council, Thrissur, at the Kerala Sahitya Akademi hall here on Sunday, he said people should take responsibility for treating the waste they produced.

The State Government has given the nod for installing garbage processing units based on modern technology in all the districts of the state. Local bodies will have to provide the necessary land and the full expenditure of installation of units will be borne by the State Government.

Briefing mediapersons on the cabinet decisions here on Thursday, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said that the government had succeeded in identifying four effective models for garbage treatment.

Reopening the waste treatment plant at Villappilsala at the earliest, entrusting its running to competent agencies, and rescheduling door-to-door waste collection to the evenings.