As part of making waste movement in the city more efficient, the Kochi Corporation has changed the time of its transportation on a trial basis. Biodegradable waste will be now transported from city premises to the Brahmapuram waste management plant by dusk.
The move, albeit temporary, has been widely welcomed by people in Kochi as this will now free them from the strong stench emanating from garbage collection vehicles during morning hours. Earlier, garbage collected from households and commercial outlets in the city, was transported to Brahmapuram during peak traffic hours in the morning.
“This is a very smart move by Kochi Corporation. In developed cities, we cannot see any waste transportation during the day. Though this has been started on a trial basis now, the Corporation will have the support of residents associations in the city if this change is implemented,” Renkadasa Prabhu, member of Ernakulam District Residents Association Apex Council (EDRAAC), told TNM.
According to Kochi Corporation officials, it was after the fire outbreak in Brahmapuram plant that they decided to shift timings of waste movement in the city. “After the temporary halt of garbage collection from the city to the plant following fire outbreak, vehicles were carrying garbage both day and night, to clean up the city. At that time, we saw how seamlessly waste was being transported during night and late evenings. There was not much traffic and rush on the city roads, so we thought about trying this out,” Prathiba Ansari, health standing committee chairperson of the Corporation, told TNM.
The waste collection, which was halted temporarily for a week, resumed on March 3.
Presently, the Corporation has started transporting only biodegradable waste during late evening. Trucks carrying other non-biodegradable waste continue to operate during morning hours as usual.
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Truck transporting garbage from city to Brahmapuram waste plant
Meanwhile, residents opine that all waste movement should be done only during the night. “It will be much better if total waste movement in the city, including collection and transportation of all kinds of garbage, could be carried out during night time. Presently, waste is being collected from houses and other places during morning. They keep this garbage at various collection points and wait till evening to transport them. If collection is also done during night, there won’t be an issue of waste accumulation at various places in the city during day time,” said Renkadasa.
Meanwhile, Kochi Corporation officials have stated that the change in timings will be fixed only after discussions with the workers. “Some of the women who work in the sector have expressed displeasure as they will have to work late hours. So we will hold a meeting in the coming days and come up with a solution after discussions,” said Prathiba.
About 1,500 Kudumbashree and Corporation workers are involved in collection and transportation of waste from the city. Presently, waste collection is being carried out by dividing the city into circles. There are about 22 circles in the city and each circle has multiple collection points according to the size of the circle. Concerns over the new timings have also been raised by workers in the larger circles having several collection points, as by the time the work ends, it will be over 8 pm.