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The Kerala government has decided to dissolve the State Level Monitoring Committee (SLMC) on solid waste management set up to oversee the implementation of the Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. The committee, headed by former Kerala High Court judge A.V. Ramakrishna Pillai, was set up in 2019 as per the directive issued by the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The State-level committees were formed after the tribunal found that the then zone-wise regional committees were not yielding the expected results. The government decided to dissolve the SLMC based on its inference that robust institutional frameworks are already operational in the State. “This step will avoid parallel structures, enhance administrative efficiency, and strengthen accountability within the existing statutory and policy frameworks,” said a report dated October 7, 2025 filed by the Department of Environment before the Principal Bench of the tribunal in New Delhi. “Over the past few years, the Government of Kerala has undertaken significant institutional reforms and capacity-building measures in the environmental governance and solid waste management sectors. As a result, robust and comprehensive institutional mechanisms are now in place to perform all functions initially entrusted to the SLMC,” it said. The measures taken include a high-level committee chaired by the Chief Secretary, State Level Empowered Committee to review and monitor compliance with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 and the roles performed by agencies, including Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSCPB), Suchitwa Mission, State Level Monitoring under the Swachh Bharat Mission, and the District Level Monitoring Committees, according to the report. ‘Redundant’ “Given the maturity, effectiveness and routine functioning of the above mechanisms, the continuation of the SLMC has become reduntant. The overlapping roles and functions may lead to duplication of efforts and administrative inefficiency,” it said. Since its formation in 2019, the SLMC had submitted several reports before the tribunal pointing out the gaps in the State’s solid waste management scenario. It had also pulled up the authorities, including the KSPCB and the Kochi Corporation, for lapses in addressing the pollution of the Periyar river and the repeated fire incidents at the Brahmapuram dumping site of the civic body.
