A map of Kerala marking 93 ULBs
Close to 4 million tons of waste is generated in Kerala each year. That’s equivalent to the weight of almost thousand elephants. This includes garbage from homes, offices, shops as well as industries, and hospitals. Despite recent efforts by citizens and city corporations, a major proportion of this waste continues to get dumped in open spaces in towns and cities. A successful and sustainable model of waste management in municipal sector is the need of the hour.
Although municipal solid waste management (MSWM) is an essential service and a mandatory function of municipal authorities across the country, it is still being managed in an unplanned manner, giving rise to environmental degradation and serious health problems especially for women and children. This clearly underlines the need for preparing a strategic and detailed MSWM plan by the urban local bodies (ULBs).
The project primarily focuses on the urban local bodies of the State. The project will be implemented in all the 93 Urban Local Bodies, which comprise of 6 municipal corporations and 87 municipalities across Kerala. People residing in the 93 urban local bodies are expected to benefit from this project. The project would provide a lasting solution to the challenges and issues posed by urban solid waste. It would have a collection system covering all households and other establishments in the target urban local bodies as well as processing facilities. It would also guarantee the remediation of dumpsites, implementation of scientific landfills, and reuse and recycling facilities. Each local body would have a master plan for solid waste management and would be provided technical assistance.
The public at large will get source-level and centralized waste management solutions in addition to regional SWM facilities.
