KARADIYANA GARBAGE DUMP OVERFLOWING Dumping of garbage to be restricted in mid August

Garbage dumping at Kerawalapitiya stopped on Monday

Dumping of garbage would be restricted at the Karadiyana garbage mountain with effect from August 15 to ensure the sustainability of the garbage facility, the Western Provincial Waste Management Authority said. Its Director Nalin Mannapperuma said all seven local government bodies which dump garbage at Karadiyana would be imposed restrictions to ensure the safety of the facility in the long run and to kick start the power generating project.

As a precautionary measure to prevent another Meethotamulla tragedy from repeating, Mannapperuma said 15 families were removed from a zone identified as a high risk area near the garbage mountain following a situation report released by the National Building Research Organisation. Accordingly, he said 13 main families and two sub families were removed from the high risk zone. He said throughout the years, close to three million metric tonnes of garbage had been dumped at the Karadiyana Garbage dump. “It is risky to keep dumping garbage at the dump without any restrictions,” he said.

He said the Western Provincial Waste Management Authority would initiate a discussion with the local government bodies which dump garbage at the facility to identify the days on which garbage is collected in lesser amounts. “When we can identify the dates on which garbage disposal is less, we will not accept garbage on those days. However, we will definitely close down the facility on Sundays,” Mannapperuma said. To minimize the impact on the environment from the Karadiyana garbage mountain, he said garbage segregation should be streamlined in a proper way. “In the future, only 60 per cent of garbage will be recycled at the facility and the local government bodies should recycle the rest of 40 per cent of garbage collected,” he said.

Close to 550 MTS of garbage is being dumped at Karadiyana from the seven local government bodies on a daily basis and only 220 MTS of garbage from that is being separated as recyclable materials. About seven to 10 MTS of compost is being produced daily at the facility.

It was only Monday that dumping of garbage at the Kerawalapitiya garbage facility, which was maintained by the Sri Lanka Land Reclamation & Development Corporation (SLLRDC), was stopped completely.

The Megapolis and Western Development Ministry said the Kerawalapitiya garbage facility was opened as a temporary measure to the mounting garbage issue in the Colombo city for a period of one year.

“However, it was operated for over two years. The SLLRDC continued to operate the facility even though it exceeded the capacity, fulfilling an unofficial responsibility,” the ministry said.

It said garbage can now be dumped at the Aruwakkalu sanitary landfill site.