What we need is more waste plants not airports

Kerala has been better known as God’s own country because of its biodiversity and geographic fabric and now the state is loosing its sheen due to its improper waste management system that it has. So now the state is being known as a stinging place and no more it is God’s own country. As far as the state is concerned, the pressing need of the state is not setting up new airports at Aranmula and Kannur but proper waste plants to dump the waste and keep Kerala a clean state.

Tourism is one of the key sectors, that contributes a major chunk of income to the state exchequer and Kerala is one of the most-sought after tourist destinations in the world and if we do not have better waste plants in place to manage the waste the tourism sector will be badly affected.

Already, the state has 3 international airports to meet the airborne needs of its people that too the airports are located in southern, central and northern parts of the state catering to the needs of its people thus all people in the state have easy access to airports. The proposed airports at Aranmula and Kannur are not the imperative needs of the state but it is the vested interest of a few leaders to swindle the money.

The end result of urbanization is the heap of garbage accumulated and there is no adequate modern facility to treat the garbage. The civic body is clueless on how to treat the increasing amount of garbage. There is no proper system to treat the garbage and getting the garbage accumulated could cause the outbreak of serious diseases like hepatitis B, Malaria and so on. Hygiene should be the first concern of the governing body as well as the people that is why it is said that cleanliness is close to godliness.  

As far as the State Kerala is concerned, in order to promote its tourism feasibilities it should have better waste management system that to keep the state a truly God’s own county as it known for. The Indian tradition is atithi devo bhava, guests are treated like God. The foreigners are known for their cleanliness and neatness; they would not be able to tolerate the stinging atmosphere that is prevailing here.  

The government should know to prioritize things and accomplish the needs considering its significance. The true governance is not in taking up big projects and accomplishing them instead in running the current affairs meticulously and systematically. As far as a government is concerned, its performance is evaluated and looked up is the new projects it has accomplished so that it can go to public with the list of things accomplished and ask them to vote the government in power for the next tenure as well.

This small state has as many airports it should have considering its population density. Therefore, what we need to have is more number of waste plants to treat the waste than setting up new airports. The state has acute shortage of electricity so as other countries produce electricity and biogas with garbage, it is high time the government implement such drastic steps so that the electricity and cooking gas needs will be automatically met along with the waste management systems. 

As the state is blessed with good and at the same time fast commuting facilities, people have easy access to the airports. So it is better to add more number of flight services in the 3 airports than building new airports thus the alarming needs of air-travelers could be met and the fund to setup new airports could be used for waste plants.

Development is not all about setting up new projects and facilities but running the already existing systems well. What is the whole point setting up new projects and facilities and old systems do not perform and are hazardous to people and their health. The news projects and facilities can only produce more waste and make the life of people more miserable. So before setting up the dreams projects, all the maintenance system should in place if not in course of time that too would become a heap of garbage.     

The government should be able to understand what the pressing need of the hour is and it should be given predominant consideration than going after their dream projects which serve the selfish needs of a few political leaders. Politicians and leaders should always work for the common good of the general public than serving the petty needs of a few chosen sessions of the society. Already the cities are turned to miserable places to live in with the heap of garbage and the stinging smell it produces and only in the villages a little ‘Keralaness’ is still being preserved. It is high time that the government implement modern waste management system in order to keep Kerala clean and to project it as one of the most-sought after tourist destinations in the world.