A penalty of ₹1.04 crore was collected from persons and establishments involved in illegal waste dumping in the State over the past one year.
As many as 9,078 violations were detected and punitive measures taken from March 2023 to April 2024. Around 1.6 lakh kg of single-use plastic was seized over the past one year, according to the Department of Local Self-Government.
Twenty-three enforcement squads were formed in March 2023 to act against illegal waste dumping in public places and waterbodies. The teams have conducted 33,405 inspections so far.
Nearly 77% of waste generated in the State is organic and the remaining 23% comprises inorganic waste, including 5% reject material that has a combustibility of 79.2%. As much as 3,823 tonnes of waste per day is produced in urban local self-government institutions (LSGIs) and 6,857 tonnes per day in rural LSGIs. Kerala produces a total of 10,680 tonnes of waste daily. Of the 3,823 tonnes of waste per day generated in urban LSGIs, 2,944 tonnes are bio-waste. Non bio-waste, including reject material, amounts to 879 tonnes per day.
Enforcement against illegal waste dumping was stepped up after the government amended the Kerala Municipality Act and the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act from December 8, 2023. Spot fine was raised from ₹250 to ₹5,000 in both rural and urban areas. The fine for dumping waste was increased from ₹25,000 to ₹50,000.
According to the revised law, all are mandated to hand over waste to the local body or the authorised agency concerned. A legal provision has been introduced which stipulates that whoever organises an event with an attendance of more than 100 persons should inform the local body concerned three days in advance and hand over the requisite user fee to it for waste handling.
Published - April 09, 2024 08:41 pm IST
