THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Setting up of aerobic bins at Poojappura junction will be discussed at an all-party meeting on September 22, but there appears to be no consensus yet on the issue. It will be held a day after the first day of the annual Vijayadasami festival here. The setting up of aerobic bins and material recovery centre was stopped for two weeks, because of opposition from various quarters. The other day Mayor V K Prasanth had instructed that aerobic bins be installed again with police protection, but as BJP workers obstructed it, work was stopped again.
It was with the cognizance of Poojappura councillor B Vijayalekshmi, who is also a BJP member, that the spot for the bin-cum material-recovery-centre was chosen. While she is convinced about the effectiveness of aerobic bins, the people in the locality are not. Authorities at the care home for children run by the Social Justice Department had submitted a letter to the Mayor expressing concerns over setting up of the bin next to their wall. However there has been no campaign to allay the fears of the people, regarding kitchen bins.
The BJP maintains that it is not against aerobic bins, but only about the way they were introduced. “We had sought two days from the Mayor to talk to the people about aerobic bins. But the Mayor was not ready to listen. The BJP will support it if people’s consensus is there,” says BJP’s V G Girikumar. He adds that the Corporation should set up the existing aerobic bins at Karamana and Jagathy, before setting up new bins. The Poojappura bin shelter is around 50 m away from Saraswathy Mandapam. Its executive committee has not passed any resolution against the setting up of bins, but Saraswathy Mandapam Trust President V. Jaishankar says that it is usual for the Corporation’s initial enthusiasm to die down with time.
