KOCHI: As the squads to check public waste disposal swung into action, an essential yet silent service in the city has been stunned to a stop. Tanker lorries carrying septic waste have stopped operating in Kochi. If you heaved a sigh of relief, read on. With the authorities concerned remaining mute as to where the septic waste should be disposed of, tanker lorry operators who clear night soil have been left in the dark.“Earlier, the-then Collector M Beena had allotted an area near Cochin Port Trust for three months for us to dump night soil. But then, due to the intervention of the Port Trust officials and environmentalists, it was stopped. As of now, the officials have not earmarked any area where we can dispose of the septic waste. And we learnt that the corporation had disapproved the plan for a ‘septage’ treatment plant in the city,” said the operator of such a tanker lorry. “Since we have no instruction as to where it should be disposed of, we usually dump it in places far from residential areas after adding four kg of lime per 1,000 litres of night soil to make it sterile. This is what the corporation officials had instructed us. Usually, when we collect septic waste from government offices, the authorities themselves tell us to dump it in canals or backwaters,” he added.In most houses in Kochi, the septic tanks are situated directly under the bedroom or even kitchen due to lack of space. Since these tanks are not big enough to accommodate more than a couple of thousand litres of night soil, they get filled every year. In case they are not cleared immediately, they rupture, spilling septic waste into the surrounding areas. “Sometimes quotation teams block us on roadsides and demand that we dispose of the waste there itself after paying them. We had complained to the police regarding the issue. But no action was taken. The irony is that even authorities do the same at times,” said another tanker lorry operator. “During each trip, we dispose of around 5,000 litres of night soil. But since there is no clarification from the part of the authorities, we find it impossible to operate. ""We will continue to be inoperative until we are given a proper alternative to dump septic waste, like a septage treatment plant or any other such facility,” he added.
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