ALAPPUZHA LEADS

About 2,000 kilometres from Delhi, Alappuzha in Kerala has found a place among five cities in the world that were recognised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for their efficiency in dealing with solid waste. All Alappuzha did to earn the honour was enforce the rules.

According to the UNEP, Alappuzha introduced a decentralised waste management system.

A few years ago, roadsides and canals were filled with stinking garbage, threatening the coastal district’s distinction of ‘most-favoured’ tourist destination as well as exposing residents to clouds of flies and disease-spreading mosquitoes, the report said.

In an email reply to Hindustan Times, the Alappuzha sanitation department said it encourages residents to reuse at least 80% of the waste generated by them. That means agencies have to deal with only 20%.

“Any productive change can only be implemented if residents participate in it,” the response read.

Better known by its sobriquet “the Venice of the East”, Alappuzha separates biodegradable waste at the ward level, then treats it in small composting plants and provides many of its 1,74,000 residents with biogas for cooking, the agency said.

The only way to stop the plastic menace is a blanket ban. Else, it would be difficult to tackle the issue... It is impossible to visit every shop and vendor to measure if the polythene bags are less than 50 microns. Awareness is also needed.

DPCC OFFICIAL