Thiruvananthapuram corporation to scrap Rs 800 user fee for collecting waste

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The city corporation has decided to scrap the high user fee of Rs 800 on non-source-level waste management following criticism from various quarters. Sources say that the civic body will stick to talks for some time wherever there is resistance to the installation of kitchen bins, rather than going for stern measures like the high user fee or fines. The talks will start with the corporation launching the second phase of kitchen bin installation in 38 wards. The launch will be inaugurated by finance minister Thomas Isaac at Kunnukuzhy ward.

Officials say that every house will be visited and their concerns will be addressed. There will be only two kinds of user fees – '250 for households which have kitchen bins, and '60 for collecting inorganic waste like plastic. Some time ago, mayor V.K. Prasanth had held a press meet defending the decision of a high user fee. He had maintained that the fee will help discourage people from relying on mechanisms which collect waste. However, in some places, kitchen bin users started relying on waste collection mechanisms. One resident said that though the kitchen bin mechanism worked fine, waste collection systems made their life easier. In all such places, the corporation will do door-to-door visits to convince the users.