Thiruvananthapuram: The Corporation has started night-time garbage collection from select wards that have not been covered in the trial phase of the Capital City Clean City programme. Civic officials said the interim arrangement was conceived to prevent accumulation of solid waste in the wards outside the target area of the pilot project. Temporary workers and drivers have been deployed in the wards.

The pilot project has been extended to 25 wards. As many as 38,530 houses and over 3,000 commercial establishments have been covered, officials reported at a review meeting on Saturday.

The officials said the project had been received well by the public. However, they pointed out that a few apartment dwellers and some households, mostly belonging to the higher income groups, were refusing to participate in the scheme, which involves segregation of waste at the point of generation. Councillors who participated in the meeting called for stern action to deter littering of public places. They urged the Health standing committee to impose fines on those found dumping garbage in the open.

The committee chairman G.R.Anil told the meeting that the garbage collection points in the 25 wards will be closed down in two weeks. "We are only waiting to streamline the collection and transportation system," he said. The Corporation's fleet of 32 garbage trucks is being refitted with covered loading bays to prevent spills during transportation. The lorries are being sent in batches of five to Perumbavoor for the refit. "Once the entire fleet is ready, the garbage collected from households can be loaded directly onto the trucks, without the need for collection points," an official said.

The review meeting decided to conduct a survey to identify the garbage collection points and to schedule the routes for the trucks. It also resolved to take up an intensive programme to remove debris wastes from open places. Corporation workers will be put on the job from Monday. They will also start cleaning the drains and gutters.

Health committee members said the new garbage collection system involving Kudumbasree units had freed up a large number of sanitation workers for other duties. "They will now be redeployed for cleaning up drains and sweeping the streets," Mr.Anil said.

Officials said 60 per cent of the hotels in the target wards had enlisted for the new garbage collection system. They said a health squad will be deployed to keep a look out for slaughterhouses and poultry farms dumping animal wastes in public places. "We propose to impose deterrent fine on these offenders," they said.

Mr. Anil said moves were on to identify plastic recycling plants willing to accept the non-biodegradable wastes collected from households. Some of the Kudumbasree units currently sell the plastic waste to scrap dealers.

Meanwhile, the Government is yet to clear a proposal to set up an engineered sanitary landfill to dispose of inert wastes piling up at the Corporation's garbage treatment plant at Vilappilsala. Official sources said the Government was likely to issue an order approving the project this week.

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