Thiruvananthapuram: April to be No Burn' month

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Thiruvananthapuram corporation is planning to launch a campaign against all sorts of burning in the city in  April.  Mayor V.K. Prasanth said, “The month-long ‘no- burn’ campaign aims to put a stop to burning, including burning of leaves. We have not yet completed preparing  the activities connected with it. A lot of burning happens because there is no other means to deal with excess leaves. This will be addressed through our campaign,” he said.

Now every zonal office has a vehicle each, which is used to collect leaves from the streets. The corporation is planning to add additional vehicles to ensure that all leaves are  collected.  The civic body had, in its waste management bylaw, mentioned about penalties for burning.  The bylaw has not been passed as the law department of  LSGD has sought some clarifications. Once the bylaw comes into effect, those  who burn waste will be penalised.

Though councillors were convinced about the ill-effects of burning plastic, they were unaware that burning leaves can cause any harm.  When this newspaper raised the issue, both deputy mayor Rakhi Ravikumar and BJP’s V.G. Girikumar asked what was wrong with burning leaves.  Girikumar also said that it was only in  areas without aerobic bins that  burning was rampant. UDF’s D. Anilkumar said that burning of leaves would cause cough and chest infection.  “However, we cannot do without burning leaves as people want cities to be clean,” he said.  The mayor  answered correctly that it would increase carbon emissions.