Local bodies make little progress in penalising those dumping waste

LSGD review meeting calls for stringent action, asks local body secretaries to report on action taken within a month

A review by the Local Self Government Department (LSGD) has revealed little progress by local bodies across Ernakulam in imposing penalty on those violating Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. The lapses came to the fore at the assessment meet convened by Sarada G. Muraleedharan, Additional Chief Secretary, LSGD, on Friday. The review was in continuation of the performance audit of the local bodies in implementing the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. The previous review held in July had found that 27 local bodies in the district had made ‘zero progress’ in acting against those responsible for dumping of waste in public spaces. Twenty-four panchayats had failed to act against dumping of waste in waterbodies. The department had given a month’s time to the secretaries of the local bodies to initiate legal and penal action against those responsible for illegal waste dumping. The latest review found that the compliance was still poor as the local bodies were hesitant in slapping penalty on those dumping waste in public places and waterbodies. Except for a few municipalities like Kalamassery and Eloor, the overall rate of imposing penalty on violators had achieved little progress since July, according to the assessment.