COIMBATORE: Political activists and residents of villages in Pollachi are blaming the ineffective inspection of vehicles at check posts on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border in the district for the periodic dumping of municipal and medical wastes from the neighbouring State.
“Dumping of wastes by hospitals, poultries, leather tanners and civic agencies functioning in Kerala has been going for nearly 10 years now. Lorries transporting wastes are rarely stopped at check posts on the Tamil Nadu side,” pointed out K S Nagaraj, secretary (south), Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam. Nagaraj, who was instrumental in exposing the unethical discarding of biomedical waste from Kerala at Chemmanampathi village near Pollachi on Sunday, said “we had registered around 10 complaints of waste being dumped in villages falling under Pollachi and Valparai jurisdictional police stations.”
Lorries from Kerala routinely offload garbage in Chemmanampathi, Govindapuram, Meenatchipuram, Gopalapuram and Nadupuni closer to the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border.
“Unfortunately, the vigil at check posts continues to be lax. Even Forest Department officials have failed to raise their voice although this region is closer to the natural wildlife habitat. We suspect that corrupt officers posted in check posts are permitting these vehicles to enter here,” Nagaraj alleged.
Farmers are sometimes misled into buying the waste which is passed off to them as manure without even realising that it would damage their crops in the long run due to soil degradation. There is also a threat of ground water pollution. MDMK district secretary V Eswaran alleged that nearly 100 tonnes of municipal and biomedical waste have been dumped in the vicinity over the years.
“Sometimes the garbage is discarded close to the check dams. The State Government should go beyond the arrest of seven persons and take action against the Thrissur Municipality Commissioner and Thrissur Collector under the Environmental Protection Act for dumping the waste in our State,” Eswaran demanded.