Thiruvananthapuram: The tablet strips collected by the Clean Kerala Company through Haritha Karma Sena across the State weighed 7,774 kilograms (7.74 tonnes) last year. This is the weight of the empty tablet strips collected during the 2022 - 2023 financial year. The figures could be much higher if we consider the uncollected tablet strips.
According to the data collated by All Kerala Chemists and Druggists Association, Keralites spent Rs 12,500 crores on medicines in 2022 alone.
The Haritha Karma Sena had collected 3.02 crore kgs (30,217 tonnes) of garbage and handed it over to the company. The thin tablet strips which would only weigh a few grams were segregated from the total waste material. It was segregated as it is a different type of plastic that is scientifically degraded at the bio-medical waste management plant in Kochi. Though certain types of strips have reusability potential in North India, the expense of logistics is a deterrent, Clean Kerala company authorities said.
The company had received waste material weighing 7,657 tonnes in the 2021-22 financial year. The total waste collected increased by 4 times in a span of one year. After the Brahmapuram fire incident, the company has collected 750 tonnes of waste material from the Kochi Corporation region alone in just two months.
Haritha Karma Sena gets Rs 5.08 crore as compensation
The compensation Haritha Karma Sena gets for waste collection has almost doubled. While the compensation given to Haritha Karma Sena in the 2021-2022 financial year was Rs 2.60 crore, it is Rs 5.08 crore in 2022- 23. There are 31,000 members in the Haritha Karma Sena. As the compensation alone will not be sufficient for these members to make a living, a user fee is also being collected from the houses and institutions.
