THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Just a day left to sort things out for a stench-free city, the City Corporation has received yet another blow in the Vilappilsala issue. While the State Government is yet to make a healthy intervention, the Vilappil grama panchayat committee on Monday decided to shut down the waste treatment plant. A resolution in this regard was passed by the panchayat committee with 15 out of the 20 members approving it. On Monday, an all-party delegation from the Corporation met Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who passed the buck on to Urban Affairs Minister P K Kunhalikutty to arrive at a solution in the wake of the call by the Vilappil Janakeeya Samithi to block the vehicles carrying garbage from the city to the Vilappilsala waste treatment plant from Wednesday. According to Mayor K Chandrika, the Urban Affairs Minister has convened a meeting on Tuesday evening. ‘’We apprised the CM of the situation. We told him that we are going ahead with the decentralised waste management programme, but we need money, we need staff and then only the sanitation project will move forward. We have also said in our memorandum that the Corporation must be given help to save its assets and ensure the security of the employees,’’ she said. It was an all-party delegation which met the Chief Minister on Monday. According to the delegation members, Chandy has assured them that a solution would be found after the next Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. ‘’He has said that there would be a policy decision regarding this at the Cabinet meeting,’’ the Mayor said. The Corporation is of the opinion that sanitation is a state issue and must be handled by the state government since the local body lacks funds and facilities. According to Health Standing Committee Chairperson S Pushpalatha, the Corporation members will meet Kunhalikutty on Tuesday and apprise him of the current situation. ‘’The Chief Minister said that the Urban Affairs Minister would do the needful. We expect something to turn out at the meeting on Tuesday so that garbage does not turn into a curse for the city,’’ she said. Meanwhile, the District Congress Committee (DCC) has accused the Corporation of evading the responsibility of finding a solution to the crisis at Vilappilsala. A press statement from the DCC said that the Corporation has been doing nothing for the last 10 years to prevent the water resources in Vilappil panchayat from getting contaminated. Had they taken steps in the initial stages, the problem would not have snowballed into a crisis now, the statement said. Though the Corporation officials seem to be in the dark as to what kind of solution would be offered by the State Government, they deny charges of abandoning the responsibility to arrive at a solution. ‘’Then, who are we to approach? The Centre? It is up to the State Government to solve the issue since it only has the required machinery,’’ the Mayor said.
Comments
0 comment