Food waste crisis hits Technopark

It seems the Technopark authorities are following in the footsteps of the City Mayor - they have refused to take up the responsibility of waste management. Instead, they have asked the companies to do it themselves. According to the park authorities, the employees have to take back the food waste to their own houses.

The companies in Technopark are furious over the entire affair as they are paying a huge amount as service charge. “For the past 15 years, our company has been paying service charge for waste-disposal. Now, they are refusing to take food waste. There was no prior meeting before taking such decision. We were not informed either,” said a senior official of a Technopark company.

“Most of the companies do not have any facility to dispose of waste,” he added.

When contacted, an official at Park Centre said that they are all set to install a waste management unit at Technopark and the present crisis would be resolved soon. “The companies must wait for around six months for the crisis to end,” he added.

“We used to dump food waste in garbage pits on the campus. Last week, some local people complained against the park authorities over the foul smell that was coming from the campus. The City Corporation has served notice based on their complaint. That is when the park authorities decided to stop taking food waste,” he said.

The official added that a major waste management plant, which consists of a biogas plant, an incinerator and a shredding unit, is coming up in Technopark. “A waste management plant costing Rs 75 lakh is being installed on the campus. We still collect plastic and paper waste, the crisis is over the food waste,” he said, adding that Technopark produces around one tonne of food waste every day.

The garbage crisis worsened in Technopark following the Vilappilsala agitation. After Corporation workers stopped taking waste, the park authorities sought the help of the owners of a local pig farm. Later, they too stopped collecting waste. The attempt to dump the waste on the park campus itself suffered a setback when local people opposed it.