FRAT Fest-2011 inaugurated

THIRUVANANATHAPURAM:  Speaker G Karthikeyan inaugurated the ‘FRAT Fest-2011’, organised by the Federation of Residents’ Associations Thiruvananthapuram (FRAT), here on Sunday.  In his inaugural address, he lauded residents’ associations for playing a vital role in giving a new lease of life to the fast-depleting phenomenon of togetherness among people. “There once existed in the city a situation where people didn’t even know their neighbours. Such situations have reduced to a great extent through better connectivity of residents’ associations,” he said. In a centralised manner, they have been successful in circulating important information among everyone at the right time.  After inaugurating the competitions in arts and sports, Mayor K Chandrika said that it was shocking to find in a survey conducted by the City Corporation that 20 per cent of the school students lacked physical fitness. The     Corporation is planning to appoint some 32 physical education teachers to make sports education compulsory among school students, she said.  On the occasion, she also mentioned that the Corporation had no plans to arrange a centralised waste disposal system in the Capital City. “One more Vilappilsala will not crop up again,” she said. She also said that the Corporation would encourage decentralised waste management system and methods such as vermicompost and ring compost would be given much impetus in this regard. The Mayor also gave a call to curb the use of plastic carry bags and also mentioned the need to dispose them by adopting the method of shredding.FRAT FESTIVALThe FRAT festival is being conducted among 29 zones, comprising around 800 residents’ associations. Nursery school students to senior citizens will take part in the competitions. Competitions will be conducted on all Sundays till December 31.