MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court directed Thoothukudi collector to consider the plea on removing industrial waste dumped by Sterlite in Upper stream in Kumaragiri village.
S M A Gandhimathi Nathan, a member of Advisory Board in Thoothukudi District Consumer Protection Cell and a former member of Vigilance Committee of National Green Tribunal, submitted in his litigation that the unit had deposited a pile of industrial waste materials as high as 10 feet in the stream, thereby polluting and obstructing its course causing floods in other villages in the district in 2015.
Citing the report submitted by Thoothukudi tahsildar, who termed the dumping of copper slag as a threat, Nathan submitted that tahsildar had also warned of floods if dumping continues. It was also submitted that the collector had instructed to remove the dumped waste during a review meeting in September 2016 and later the sub-collector ordered to remove the waste from the stream.
As the order was not complied with, the litigant made a representation to the district administration on July and August 2017. He approached the court as his representation was not considered. Hearing the plea, a division bench comprising Justices M M Sundresh and N Sathish Kumar directed the collector to consider the representation within eight weeks.