Kerala govt to rate local bodies for sanitation status: CM Pinarayi Vijayan

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday saidthe state government has decided to give sanitation status to local bodies which have provided the best infrastructure for solid waste treatment.

He said the government aims to bring all the local bodies in the state to sanitation status and give most of them full sanitation status during this tenure itself. "The government has decided to give sanitation status to the local bodies which have provided the best infrastructure for solid waste treatment and then full sanitation status for the preparation of complete waste treatment including liquid and gaseous waste," Vijayan said while declaring the sanitation status for 589 local bodies through video- conferencing.

The Chief Minister said as part of the 100-day action plan, it was estimated that 250 local bodies would be rehabilitated in the first phase but more than twice as many local bodies have been able to reach this position. "A total of 501 Grama Panchayats, 58 Municipalities and 30 Block Panchayats have been upgraded to sanitation status," he said. The Chief Minister further said various waste treatment methods were implemented through Haritha Kerala Mission.

The Haritha Karma Sena (Green Task Force) was formed under the leadership of Kudumbasree for the collection of non- organic waste, including plastic. "At present, there are 1,551 entrepreneurial groups of Haritha Karma Sena in 850 Grama Panchayats and 88 Municipalities. With the completion of the network for sorting and recycling the inorganic waste collected by them and handing them over to the Clean Kerala Company, the waste problem has been solved to a large extent," Vijayan said.

He said Clean Kerala e-waste collection has also been started.

The government has set a 20-point code of conduct for the disposal of bio-waste at source, setting up of facilities for treatment of inorganic waste, setting up of a green task force for storage of inorganic waste and preparation of material collection facility for storage, decontamination of public places and implementation of the green protocol at government offices, public and private functions. Local Self-Government (LSG) bodies, which get more than 60 marks out of 100, are eligible for the sanitation status.