Leading the war against waste

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The first lady and her team members would show the way. Mayor K Chandrika and a couple of Standing Committee Chairpersons in the City Corporation have decided to go in for ring-compost method in their houses to dispose of garbage. While the Mayor will have the ring-compost put up on Tuesday at her house in Muttada, the rest would follow suit in two or three days. ‘’Now, I am dumping the degradable waste under two trees in my compound and landfilling some of it. From Tuesday, I will have the ring-compost set up,’’ Chandrika told City Express. The Mayor said that since she had a terrace garden, the manure would come handy for her. The idea was seconded by Deputy Mayor G Happykumar too. He also has a terrace garden,  which would get pure organic manure. ‘’My house has no space to go for heavy biowaste mechanism or vermi-compost. Ring-compost would be better,’’ he said. For the last two days, thanks to his generous neighbour, the Deputy Mayor could landfill the waste generated at his house at the neighbour’s place. ‘’I have stopped using plastic carry bags too. I have a cloth bag kept in my bike in which I buy things,’’ Happykumar added.  Health Standing Committee Chairperson S Pushpalatha was utilising the services of the Cleanwell units in her ward till they came to a halt six days ago. ‘’I have no space in the compound of my house to dig a pit. I will have to use the service of the Cleanwell units to take it and landfill it. But in two days, I am going for a ring-compost. Maybe, I will have to scrape a bit of cement and find space,’’ she said. Works Committee Chairperson V S Padmakumar is one of those lucky ones to have a spacious compound around his house at Edavacode. He used to own cows and has a gobar gas plant. ‘’I have never faced the garbage issue, because, for years, we have been digging pits on our backyard to dump garbage,’’ he said.Education Standing Committee Chairperson K S Sheela also stays beyond the city limits at Kariyam. She too has enough land in her house to dispose of waste. P Syamkumar, Tax Committee Chairperson, is one who has been using ring-compost for sometime now. Even before the garbage issue erupted, he was not depending on the Cleanwell units.