Garbage issue: Mayor facing worst crisis

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: This could be the worst nightmare for Mayor K Chandrika. Truckloads of garbage and no means to dump it. A stinking city to rule.  With the government failing to persuade the striking local people at Vilappil to stop blocking the garbage lorries, transportation of garbage from the city to the Vilappilsala waste treatment plant has become worse than a nightmare for the Corporation. Thanks to the hartal called by the LDF on Saturday, garbage was not collected by Kudumbashree Cleanwell units. At the time of going to press on Sunday, the local people were planning to go ahead with blocking the lorries during the night. Another hartal falling on Monday is only likely to worsen the situation.  The Janakeeya Samithi had announced its plans to block vehicles carrying garbage to the plant from September 18. In view of which, the Chief Minister called a meeting on September 12 at which he promised, in principle, that the plant would be shut down in a phased manner. The Sanitation Mission was asked to study temporary measures that could be adopted at Vilappilsala to solve the garbage issue. A second meeting was scheduled for Friday, which did not take place. And the Janakeeya Samithi decided to go ahead with the blockade as planned. Though a meeting called by the government is scheduled for Monday, the proposed LDF-BJP hartal has dimmed its chances.  ‘’Every night at 8, a 250-member volunteer group would form a security wall which will block the Corporation vehicles from plying on the route. Women and children would also participate,’’ said S Burhan, Janakeeya Samithi leader.  The Corporation is hoping that the state government would come to its help. ‘’I have requested police protection for transporting the garbage. We cannot do anything, it is up to the government to help us. It is the stand taken by the government favouring the striking local people that has worsened the issue. The government should have arrived at some solution and then called them for talks,’’ said the Mayor.  According to her, decentralisation of solid waste management is the sole answer to the problem. But that would take time. ‘’The garbage from the households of the ministers is also collected by us. Many of the Vilappil leaders, including Kanayi Kunhiraman, live in the city. Everybody shows sympathy, but nobody dares suggest a solution,’’ the Mayor said.