Thiruvananthapuram: At a time when the state is witnessing the worst-ever waste management crisis, the Environment and Cl¬im¬ate Change Department has come up with a unique project that deploys fish for disposing of biodegradable waste generated in households.
The department has decided to incorporate this as one of the projects in the new urban environment improvement programme, which will be implemented in the state capital this financial year. The state government has allotted `10.05 crore for it.
Food wastes, vegetable peelings and dining table remains can be converted into quality food fish in kitchen tanks of 10-15 squa¬re metre size. Varieties of scavenger fishes – Malay¬sian vala, golden catfish (manjakoori) and endemic vazhakoori – will be supplied to households. The project was developed by Regional Agricultural Res¬e¬arch Station, Kumarak¬om, under the leadership of K.G. Padmakumar, reired associate director.
Director of Environment and Climate Change Depa¬rtm¬ent Sreekantan Nair told DC that the project is ideal for urban households, where there is scarcity of land.
“Utilisation of household organic waste for feeding fishes will be more acceptable as it’s a waste-to-food and entertainment project. The fish is edible. Once it’s full grown, the residents can consume it. We haven’t worked out the cost of each household unit,” he said and added that one fish will cost around `300.
Meanwhile, Suchitwa Mission is all set to launch a pilot project on kitchen tank fish farming in Harip¬ad constituency. The government has sanctioned `35 lakh for the project.
“Who will not like to have a fish tank at home? We will start implementing the project in Haripad soon. The cost of construction of tanks, fish seed, training in fish maintenance etc will be rendered at 70 percent subsidy,” said Padmakumar, the technical consultant of the project there. The cost of tank construction, fish seed etc will be around `35,000.
