Wed Oct 22 09:30:12 UTC 2025: ## Kerala Dissolves Solid Waste Monitoring Committee, Cites Redundancy

KOCHI, October 22, 2025 – The Kerala government has announced the dissolution of the State Level Monitoring Committee (SLMC) on solid waste management, established in 2019 to oversee the implementation of the Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. The decision, detailed in a report submitted to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on October 7th, cites the development of “robust” and “comprehensive” institutional mechanisms that render the SLMC redundant.

The committee, headed by former Kerala High Court judge A.V. Ramakrishna Pillai, was formed following an NGT directive after finding previous zone-wise regional committees ineffective. However, the government now believes that a high-level committee chaired by the Chief Secretary, the State Level Empowered Committee, the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSCPB), Suchitwa Mission, State Level Monitoring under the Swachh Bharat Mission, and the District Level Monitoring Committees, are sufficient to manage the state’s solid waste effectively.

According to the government’s report, continuing the SLMC would lead to “overlapping roles and functions,” resulting in “duplication of efforts and administrative inefficiency.” Over the past few years, the government claims to have undertaken “significant institutional reforms and capacity-building measures” in environmental governance and solid waste management.

While the SLMC, in its reports to the NGT, previously highlighted gaps in the state’s solid waste management, and even criticized agencies like the KSPCB and Kochi Corporation for pollution and issues at the Brahmapuram dumping site, the government maintains that current mechanisms are adequately equipped to address these challenges. The move aims to streamline administrative processes and strengthen accountability within existing statutory and policy frameworks.

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