Kerala has been a habitual offender when it comes to illegal dumping of waste, including biomedical waste, in border villages and forests of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. While the decades-old practice has been the cause of inter-state tensions and anger among the affected people, Kerala has done little to put an end to it.
Even its recent decision to install GPS trackers on vehicles deployed for interstate transportation of waste has come at the prodding of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which has taken up a suo motu case based on reports. That dumping is continuing is symptomatic of the systemic failure to deal with the waste generated and underlines the urgent need to address the inadequacies.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), which was tasked by the NGT to investigate, has pointed out significant gaps in Kerala’s solid waste management system. It found that Kerala is equipped to handle only 30 percent of the waste it generates. In a report, the CPCB criticised the state government and Clean Kerala Company, a government agency set up to ensure scientific handling of waste, for being irresponsible and lacking adequate infrastructure.
The report also highlighted lapses in the collection of biomedical waste and its handling by unlicensed operators, encouraging an illegal waste flow that has become a hazardous burden for the state’s neighbours. It also talked about the absence of a system to monitor waste movement at the state borders and suggested an action plan that included the setting up of adequate treatment and disposal facilities, and better management of biomedical waste.
When the 2023 fire at the Brahmapuram dump yard in Kochi brought to light the enormity of waste management challenges Kerala is facing, several plans were hastily chalked out. But one year on, the state still does not have answers to those challenges. As a responsible state, it must equip itself to handle the waste generated within. Dumping it elsewhere does not make for good neighbourly behaviour.
More importantly, endangering lives through reckless disposal of toxic waste is downright criminal. Those indulging in it should be severely dealt with—the action should go beyond seizing trucks and arresting drivers to punishing the establishments and agencies responsible. Kerala must take the suggestions seriously and put its waste management system in order in the interest of itself and its neighbours.