Kandy garbage brought to Colombo for incineration

Some 3.5Mn plastic  bottles released into the town during the religious event

By Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama   

Nearly 625 tonnes of unsorted garbage collected during the  cleaning process in Kandy, following the ten-day exposition of the  Sacred Tooth Relic at Dalada Maligawa, is to be incinerated using the  burner at the Colombo Municipal Council, Kandy Municipal Commissioner  Ms.Indika Abeysinghe said.   

Making remarks to the press, she said it was not possible  to sort the waste at this stage,  disposed in large volumes. Garbage  collection was carried out with the support of several voluntary  organisations and subsequently moved to the garbage dump in the Gohagoda  area before transportation to Colombo for incineration. 

She further revealed that approximately 3.5 million plastic  bottles had been released into the town during the religious event,  adding to the waste burden.   

Meanwhile, Kandy Municipal Council’s Municipal Mechanical  Engineer, Chief Engineer for Waste and Wastewater, and Head of the  Department of Solid Waste Management, Namal Dhammika Dissanayake, said  that nearly 600 tonnes of garbage had been generated in Kandy town  through informal disposal over the past ten days.  

Additionally, authorities reported a significant number of  slippers discarded by devotees along the streets of Kandy during the  religious procession.   

The annual exposition, which draws thousands of devotees  from across the country, concluded recently, leaving behind an  unprecedented volume of waste in the city.