A board declares the Headworks dam near Munnar town in Idukki as a fixed as a litter-free zone.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Shoddy solid waste management is in sharp public focus owing to the fire at the Brahmapuram garbage treatment plant in Kochi. Till recently it used to be a pressing issue at Munnar, which hosts an estimated 20 lakh tourists a year. Now, the hill station has managed quite a turnaround.
The Munnar grama panchayat, with the assistance of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), put in place a waste management system at Kallar in January 2023. The two-storey garbage processing plant on 50 cents has two components — one where bio-waste is converted to organic manure and another where plastic waste is processed.
“After a survey with financial assistance from the UNDP, we decided on a biowaste management technique called windrow composting. A special inoculum that works in low temperature was developed by the Integrated Rural Technology Centre (IRTC). Through the technique, biowaste is converted into organic fertilizer. Plastic waste is baled into 50-kg bundles and sold. The UNDP assistance for the project came to around ₹70 lakh,” said the source.
K.N. Sahajan, secretary, Munnar panchayat, said the panchayat was collecting waste from 2,000 houses and 1,100 institutions and processing them at the plant at Kallar. “We have directed the people to hand over the segregated waste to the Haritha Karma Sena volunteers,” said Mr. Sahajan. “The panchayat has produced 70,000 kg of organic fertilizer from the biowaste in three months and has earned ₹50,000 a month from the sale of plastic waste,” he added.
Two tonnes a day
Abraham Koshi, State assistant coordinator, Haritha Keralam Mission said, “Munnar market alone generates over two tonnes of biowaste a day. Now, the segregated waste is shifted to the plant at Kallar and processed. If waste is segregated at source, it can be easily managed. Without public support, we cannot implement any system. The Haritha Kerala Mission will continue to support the Munnar panchayat’s project,“ said Mr. Koshi.
Mr. Sahajan added that the panchayat had announced a reward of ₹3,000 to those who give details of the people who dump waste in public areas.
