District, ULB Level Panels to Monitor Bio-remediation of Dumpsite at Koottupatha

PALAKKAD:
A district-level committee has been formed to closely monitor the implementation of the bio-remediation project to retrieve the legacy dumpsite of the Palakkad Municipality located at Koottupatha in Kodumbu Grama Panchayat under the World Bank-aided Kerala Solid Waste Management Project (KSWMP) initiative to retrieve garbage dump sites in over 20 towns across Kerala.

The legacy dumpsite at Koottupatha is one of the 20 such spots to be retrieved through bio-remediation across the state, in the wake of implementation of scientific waste management projects.

The district-level committee will ensure that the project is carried out strictly in compliance with the approved design and methodology by the consultant and the contractor. The panel will review the progress of the work every fortnight and report the status to the state level monitoring committee.

An Urban Local Body (ULB) level coordination panel has also been formed to keep a tab on the work, especially its compliance with socio-economic and environmental safeguards to averse any risk to the local community.

Meanwhile, an orientation programme for the elected representatives and ULB officials on the dumpsite remediation was also organised, which was chaired by Palakkad Municipal Chairperson Smt Prameela Sasisdharan.

The participants were briefed on the salient features of the project and built-in safeguards that ensure that the work implementation would not cause any risk to the local community.

The ULB-level panel has as its members the Municipal Chairperson, Vice-chairman, Health Standing Committee Chairman, the member of the ward where the dumpsite is located, officials concerned and expert members. The panel will meet at least once in a month and review the progress of the work.

Project Implementation Unit SWM Engineer Nimil M briefed on the current status of the project and the socio-economic and environmental safeguards being strictly followed.

A stake-holders meet was held at Koottupatha recently, where the local community had been assured that the project will be implemented by following all socio-economic and environmental safeguards.

Citizens can report any waste management complaints or avail waste management services by calling the KSWMP Grievance Redressal Toll Free no 1800-425-0238 or by sending an email to grmkswmp@gmail.com . They can also download the KSWMP Citizen App from Google Playstore.