The general public perception against waste treatment plants seems to be preventing the implementation of yet another project in the State. Faced with public protests, Attingal Municipality appears to be taking a step back from plans to set up a faecal sludge treatment plant (FSTP) at Maamam. The municipality, which has a stellar record in waste management among municipalities earning multiple awards, initially planned to set up the plant as part of expansion of its existing projects to take care of waste generated in Attingal town.
Though administrative sanction was accorded to the project to be set up on a poramboke land at Maamam in Attingal, along with some other locations across the State, local residents were soon up in arms against the idea. The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), which has suspected the hand of the members of the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in these protests, is now maintaining that the plan has not yet been finalised.
“We haven’t yet identified a suitable place for the plant. The municipality is still on the look out for such a land,” said G. Thulaseedharan Pillai, Vice Chairperson of Attingal Municipality.
Meanwhile, the BJP members who were part of the protests say that the plant can be located in nearby panchayats, but not within the municipality.
“The BJP is not against the project as such, but we are against the idea of setting up a plant in the thickly populated municipality without taking the people into confidence. It should ideally be located in some adjacent panchayat in a land with no human habitation nearby. The ruling LDF is now organising meetings to convince the people that no such plan has been made, which is untrue,” says BJP member C.S. Jeevanlal, representing the Karichiyil ward.
Published – February 05, 2025 07:31 pm IST