Amid pandemic, waste piling up at material collection facilities in Ernakulam

Efforts to clear waste hit by COVID-19 second wave

Twenty-five grama panchayats in Ernakulam were found lagging in clearing solid waste stored in material collection facilities (MCFs) amidst the pandemic crisis. The piling up of waste had peaked around April. Efforts to clear the waste were hit following the second wave of COVID-19. An assessment by the Suchitwa Mission and Haritha Keralam Mission revealed that MCFs in 18 grama panchayats were filled to capacity. The situation at the mini MCFs in five panchayats was no different. The MCFs have to be set up by the local bodies concerned to store waste collected from households and commercial establishments. The vendors engaged in transporting waste for use in the recycling industry collect it from the facilities.