The Tuesday Interview | ‘Kerala has blacklisted agencies dumping garbage in neighbouring states’

Kerala, a trailblazer in literacy drives and digital initiatives, is once again setting a national precedent by striving for zero waste status. The state’s zero-waste campaign, launched on October 2 last year, aims to declare Kerala garbage-free by March 31. Called Malinyamuktham Navakeralam (Garbage-free New Kerala), the initiative focuses on scientific garbage disposal. Kerala Local Self Government Minister M B Rajesh shares insights on the campaign’s progress, challenges, and measures to prevent garbage dumping in neighbouring states with DH’s
Arjun Raghunath. Excerpts:

How is the zero waste campaign progressing? Will it meet the March 31 deadline?

So far the campaign’s outcome is very satisfactory. The door-to-door waste collection has increased from 47 per cent to 89 per cent. While only 35 per cent of households were earlier paying user fees for waste collection, 72 per cent of households are now paying the user fee, which shows the increasing people’s participation. The number of collection centres has also drastically increased, with at least one in each local self-government. Private players are also setting up resource recovery facilities for handling non-degradable waste.

What are the major challenges?

The littering culture continues to be a major challenge. Even as bins are provided at all public places, it is sad to see that people hardly use them. The problem is more acute in tourist centres. Tourists from other states also seem to be the culprits in littering. Another problem is public resistance towards setting up garbage plants near settlement areas. People are aware of the hazards posed by unscientific garbage treatment, but it is quite surprising that people are not allowing the setting up of modern plants close to their locality.

How are you addressing them?

Awareness and enforcement are the prime measures to overcome these hurdles. Massive awareness programmes are already underway on the need for scientific waste disposal. As a result, the people’s support for door-to-door collection has considerably improved. But the littering culture needs to change. It has even been included in the school curriculum. Hope we will see positive changes in due course. Enforcement has been enhanced against unscientific garbage disposal, and fines have increased. As a result, the total fine collected is now Rs 5.19 crore compared to Rs 2.19 lakh during the initial days of the campaign.

Unfortunately, many local bodies are not willing to aggressively enforce garbage disposal norms. It could be due to fear of public wrath, especially since the local body elections are set to happen this year.

Kerala faced criticism from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for dumping garbage. 

We have already initiated stringent actions like blacklisting the agencies that illegally dumped garbage in neighbouring states. Apart from enhancing vigil, a committee has been constituted to constantly monitor the agencies involved in garbage collection. Kerala had quickly responded to the complaints from other states in this regard.

Are you able to act effectively against bulk waste generators like the railways?

We have already taken stringent action against many bulk waste generators like hotels and malls. But railway authorities are unfortunately not responding despite the loss of a life of a sanitation worker in Thiruvananthapuram. Despite the High Court’s intervention, their representatives did not attend meetings to discuss the issue. 

Don’t you think that the increasing incidence of diseases like dengue in Kerala is due to unscientific garbage disposal?

Obviously, the increasing number of communicable diseases in the state is an outcome of unscientific garbage disposal. Hence we are giving special attention to water bodies and septage waste management. Mobile treatment units for septage waste treatment, which were introduced during the Sabarimala pilgrimage, will be popularised. 

What are your expectations for the upcoming local body and Assembly elections, given the LDF’s poor performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls?

The Lok Sabha elections results cannot be compared with those of local body or Assembly polls. Despite setbacks in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the left front fared well in the 2020 local body election and 2021 Assembly polls by retaining power. Such a trend could be seen this time also.  The ongoing ‘Waste Free Kerala’ campaign, digital literacy drives, and efforts to end extreme poverty to declare the state as zero poverty will be among the many factors that will influence the voters in favour of the LDF.