THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
World Bank’s Environmental team visited several urban local bodies across the state last week to evaluate the environmental safeguards of waste management facilities under the Kerala Solid Waste Management Project (KSWMP), being implemented with World Bank and Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank(AIIB) aid.
The team, which visited urban areas that fall under four clusters from January 23 to 25, took stock of the green protocols being followed by the ongoing works, held discussions with elected representatives and officials of local bodies and made suggestions to ensure efficiency of the projects, wherever they needed improvement.
The team comprised World Bank’s South Asia Regional Safeguards coordinator Josefo Tuyor (Regional Safeguards Coordinator for South Asia Region) and Deepa Balakrishnan (Sr. Environmental Specialist), Natasa Vetma (Senior OHS Specialist) and Neha Vyas (Regional Safeguards Coordinator, India Country Office).
Various waste management and processing facilities visited by the team included those in Attingal (Thiruvananthapuram), Ambalamedu, Kalamassery, Thrikkakkara, Elur and Thumburmuzhi(Ernakulam), Chalakkudi, Thrissur Corporation, Paravattani and Kovilakathupadam (Thrissur), Valanchery (Malappuram), Kozhikode Corporation, and Vatakara(Kozhikode). The team also visited the cotton bag wending centre at Mattannur in Kannur district.
The team held discussions with Attingal Municipality Chairperson Adv S Kumari, Attingal Municipality Vice Chairman G Thulaseedharan Pillai, Kozhikode Mayor Dr Beena Philip, Mattannur Municipality Chairman N Shajith, and other officials of the individual KSWMP District Project Management Units (DPMUs). They also elicited views of the members of the Haritha Karma Sena in each ULB.
The delegation also held extensive interactions with KSWMP Project Director Dr. Divya S Iyer, KSWMP Deputy Project Director, S Subodh and other experts and officials of the KSWMP State Project Management Unit (SPMU), focussing on the improvements needed for making the environmental safeguards of the waste management and processing facilities totally safe by ensuring that they will not cause any harm to the ecosystem in and around their locations.
