Hotel waste management, Kovalam, Kerala

It started with a casual question in the hotel I was staying…’ So what do you do with your food waste everyday?’
I got a whole range of answers from the staff at various levels like 1. We throw it outside. 2. The municipality comes and takes it. 3. We burn it. 4. We send it to the piggery 5. We make biogas!!
Finally reached somebody who knew about the existence of the plant and was happy to take me there. Tucked in a small but beautiful corner of the campus was the biogas plant – which was sadly defunct for over a month according to the technician.
My question is, how can the municipalities allow the bulk generators of waste to walk around scot free? Why are they not penalised on a per day basis if their plants are dysfunctional? Does the city/state even have any data to measure the quantum of waste generated by the hospitality industry especially if the state survives on Tourism? Can you then, Kerala, allow your livelihood to be killed by the waste-products of your own presence? The backwaters are filling with plastic, the roads and beaches are lined with garbage… this is not the sight you promised us Kovalam. Wake up before it is too late.

First posted on 7 January 2017
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ncrwastematters/posts/1071644449629392/