Secretariat to be plastic-free soon

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Secretariat will soon be a plastic-free zone, if the General Administration Department (GAD) has its way. Not just plastic, but regarding all garbage dumping, the Secretariat is trying to set an example. In an attempt to make the Secretariat premises plastic-free, the GAD issued a circular on December 23 directing the employees to avoid the use of plastic on the premises. The canteen and the Indian Coffee House are the major plastic-prone areas of the Secretariat. To reduce plastic use, they have started replacing plastic with plantain leaves and butter paper. “Employees have been directed not to carry plastic inside the Secretariat premises even to carry food. The circular is having an impact. The usage of plastic could cut down substantially,” said R Vijayan, deputy secretary, house-keeping . The authorities are keen not only to purge the premises of plastic, but to make it a clean one without any garbage. A plant to produce bio-fertilizer would be installed soon. “Once the plant becomes operational, the fertilizer it produces can be used for gardening. We are waiting for the sanction from the top,” said Vijayan.Employees have also been given strict instructions so that nobody dumps garbage carelessly. The contractors, who are carrying on construction work, have also been asked to dispose the waste by their own and not to dump it on the premises. But don’t think that the Secretariat action plan has something to do with Vilappilsala issue. The authorities had started the efforts two months back. A health inspector and a joint health inspector, along with 100 cleaning workers, have been on their toes for the past two months to make the premises a clean one.