KOCHI: Twelve loads of garbage was removed from the Ernakulam market here on Tuesday after sub judge and secretary of legal services authority A M Basheer staged a protest by sitting in the market till all the waste is removed. He also plans to conduct an adalat for the 212 shops that allegedly function without licences and to conduct a thorough revamp here. Repairing the lightings and maintenance and use of the biogas plant will also be looked into.
He had been visiting the market as part of the 'Clean Ernakulam city' project of the legal services authority when he saw the huge dump in the market. "I was shocked. It seems people are under the belief that this is a dump yard and not a market. Even when I was standing here, I saw a vehicle coming in to dump waste. From what we understand, it is the vehicle of the corporation and they have been using this area as a common dump yard," said AM Basheer.
The people who has shops and are load workers in the market confirms that waste has not been collected from the market for days now. The crowd went into protest when the authorities claimed that the waste is being removed every day. The appalling factor is that before the waste is dumped here, some collect the barely ruined ones and sell them in wholesale to small shops. There these vegetables are used to make snacks. Workers in the market remain mute witnesses to such happenings. The market supply's the whole city with vegetables.
"I had decided that I won't leave the place till the waste was removed and I trust it was a wise decision as the authorities concerned were quick to come into action," he added.
However, Corporation has denied all the allegations and maintains that waste was being cleared from the area regularly. " On Sunday's the amount of waste is huge. Considering the shortage of vehicles to collect waste, it is possible that some waste was left behind the day before. However, the allegation that it had been there for ten days is baseless. I had already got a report from health inspector which confirms this. We are also collecting user fee from the shop keepers," said Mayor Soumini Jain.