Thiruvananthapuram, In a bid to make the cities of Kerala free from solid waste, the state government on Wednesday initiated the Kerala Solid Waste Management Project in all the 93 urban local bodies of the southern state.

Minister for Local Self-Government, M.V Govindan, has given instructions to carry out data collection and GIS mapping in all the urban local bodies to take stock of the quantity of waste generated every day in the households, commercial establishments, markets, schools and offices.

He said a basic grant will be given to all the local bodies to strengthen and enhance the existing waste management systems.

"The grant will be given based on the approval of the waste management projects submitted by the local bodies. They can also use the grant to implement various solid waste treatment projects tailored to their local specifications," said Govindan.

On a pilot basis, this was completed in Thalassery Municipality.

Govindan has also instructed the urban local bodies to complete the same in the remaining 92 municipalities within four months.

This exercise would help every local body create scientific waste treatment units according to the quantity and nature of the waste generated, and also considering the space constraints in each municipality.

Land remediation activities have also begun in the first phase in areas where waste has traditionally been dumped.

Thirty-four legacy waste disposal sites have been identified in different districts. Here, the initial steps of land reclamation have also begun.

As part of the project, more sites will be identified and reclaimed in each municipality in the future. The lands will be reclaimed by segregating the mixed waste heaps that have been accumulated over the years and treating and disposing of them without any environmental, health or social problems.

The State Project Management Unit (SPMU) will assist the municipalities in the implementation of the project.