The three-phase ‘Malinya Muktham Nava Keralam’ campaign, launched in March this year with clear-cut goals and deadlines, is a scientific, inclusive and holistic movement aimed at building a healthy society that cherishes sustainable goals and cleanliness and sanitation for all, Minister for Local Self-Governments M.B. Rajesh has said. In a press release, he said that the campaign is especially significant at a time when tell-tale signs of climate change and adverse fallout of ecological degradation are becoming increasingly evident.
The project is thus not merely about collecting, processing and repurposing household and industrial garbage but meeting these targets within a specific time frame. The Kerala Solid Waste Management Project (KSWMP), an integral component of the campaign, has meticulously drawn up an action plan for urban local bodies for taking the project forward in a time-bound and result-oriented manner. The response from people to the programme has been overwhelming, he said.
Starting from October 2 on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, the campaign will shift to a crucial stage, with a new scale and speed. In a sharp departure from the past practice of limiting the cleanliness drive to a single day or a week, it has been envisaged as an extended and continuing programme involving the entire society. It has brought together all government departments, local communities, local self-government institutions (LSGIs), students, women outfits, residence associations, sanitation workers and civil society organisations.
Activities planned
A wide range of activities such as removal of garbage piled up in public spaces, cleaning waterbodies, making community composting facilities environment friendly, convening of special grama sabhas, creating sanitary and medical waste management facilities in urban areas and turning the Haritha Karma Sena into a unique brand will be taken up on a war footing, said Mr. Rajesh.
He said that the apprehensions over scientific landfills being proposed in different regions are totally misplaced. The landfills are meticulously engineered facilities that provides for a systematic and environmentally responsible method of disposing inert waste, and is fundamentally different from a waste dumpsite. Also, the proposed landfills will be given final clearance only after assuring that they fully comply with the best international models and after a thorough scientific examination to ensure that they do not pose any adverse ecological and social consequence.
