THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a major setback to Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) Bench, Chennai, on Wednesday directed the City Corporation to close down the Vilappilsala waste treatment plant. The Bench made it clear that the plant should be dismantled at the expense of the Corporation.
In its order, the NGT said that setting up the plant by the Corporation at Vilappilsala panchayat was illegal and it should be removed by the Corporation within a period of four weeks from the date of receiving the order.
‘’The Corporation shall form a task force with an exclusive mandate to complete the said process. The task force shall include senior-level municipal engineers and scientists from the Corporation, an officer from the Central Pollution Control Board, an officer from Kerala State Pollution Control Board and two outside experts in this field drawn from universities/ organisations working on waste management - one from the state and one from any other state of India,’’ the Green Tribunal said. Senior advocate N Nandakumara Menon, who has represented the Corporation in the issue, said that they would approach the Supreme Court challenging the Tribunal order. ‘’I talked to Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Mayor K Chandrika and she has asked to challenge the order in the Supreme Court,’’ he said.
Senior advocate Kamakshi appeared for the Corporation at the Green Tribunal in Chennai.
The Kerala High Court had referred the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in 2012 seeking to stop the operation of the municipal solid waste treatment plant at Vilappil owing to pollution to the NGT Bench at Chennai.
In the petition, it was submitted that the City Corporation had dumped heaps of solid waste generated from its area in the Vilappilsala plant. The unscientific dumping of waste caused air and water pollution and even polluted the Karamana river. The petitioners also said that pollution was causing skin diseases and other undiagnosed ailments to the residents.