Kollam: The Kadakkal panchayat in Kollam has become a role model by implementing waste management at micro-level. Already selected as a model panchayat by the Pollution Control Board, it has launched collection points for non-bio-degradable waste in all its wards, the first panchayat in the district to do so.
“This is the first panchayat to set up biotic waste material collection centres in all its wards,” said panchayat president R.S. Biju. A sum of `7 lakh has been allotted for it, he said. It has already set up advanced waste disposal facility based on the directives by the National Green Tribunal. A Rs 4.5-crore centralised waste management facility funded by the Suchitwa Mission is being also built in the panchayat.
The volunteers under the Harita Karma Sena have been given personal protection kits. The plastic waste collected by them is taken to a unit at Chayikkode which is then handed over to the ‘Clean Kerala Company’ for processing. The shredding unit in the panchayat provides plastic granules for road tarring. Several roads have been tarred using plastic granules from this centre.
The auditoriums and party halls here also function based on green protocol. Even the Kudumbasree and CDS units have been provided with steel plates and mugs to avoid plastic waste. A ban on plastic carry bags has also been implemented in the panchayat.
