MADURAI: In the wake of residents of five villages boycotting polling, demanding the closure of a private waste treatment plant in Kokalancheri, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) on Saturday said that the unit had been functioning in adherence with the norms.
In a letter to District Collector MS Sangeetha, AIADMK ex-minister RB Udhayakumar said that the private waste treatment industry was treating medical and poultry waste, due to which people living in the 30 villages in the vicinity were worried about potential environmental and health hazards. Stressing on this issue, the villagers boycotted the elections.
"The industry could have been shut permanently," he said in the letter.
Following the boycott, Sangeetha ordered the TNPCB to inspect the unit and file a report.
After the inspection, TNPCB officials said that the unit, which started functioning on September 21, 2023, has a licence that is valid till March 31, 2026.
This industry gets poultry waste from municipalities, town panchayats and panchayat unions and stores around 5 tonnes. Later, the waste is boiled for 40 minutes. To control the bad odour, a 30-metre high chimney is in place, and the treatment is done according to the norms to prevent air pollution and emanation of foul odour, a source said.
"The plant is neither treating any medical waste nor chemical waste. They are abiding by the norms,” TNPCB zonal engineer Gunasekaran said.