It seems that protests at Kathikudam in Thrissur district against Nitta Gelatin India Ltd (NGIL) will not be resolved in the near future as the stand-off between the action council and the company continues.
Even as the company claims that its operation had resumed on Tuesday, residents said the company cannot start functioning without discharging waste into Chalakudy river. The company has stopped operations on October 11 due to intake of polluted water from the river. The state industry department has convened a meeting on Friday to resolve the issue. But, the NGIL Action Council said they have not yet received any intimation regarding the meeting.
Thomas I Kannath, vice-president, Kadukutty grama panchayat, said the panchayat had no information about the meeting.
“There were reports in the media stating that the Kerala High Court has decided to entrust the National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) to carry out a complete study on the alleged environmental impacts caused byNitta Gelatin India Ltd. But on enquiry, we got to know that no such order had been given by the High Court.
The stand of the action council is that we will not allow the company discharge polluted water into Chalakudy river. We have not received any communication about the meeting on Friday,” said K M Anilkumar, convener, Kathikudam Samara Samithi.
In a recent statement, the NGIL said action council members have built a bund near the pumping station of the company near the Chalakudy to block water intake of the company. It alleged that the members had also added diesel and chemicals in this water which had forced the company to stop production immediately. When contacted, G Suseelan, managing director, Nitta Gelatin India Ltd, said the High Court had issued a notice to the NEERI and the reply is awaited.
“The company incurs a daily loss of `30 lakh in turnover due to the closure,” he said.Incidentally, an emergency meeting of Kadukutty grama panchayat on September 27 had unanimously passed a memorandum saying that the CM should visit the company in Kathikudam. Panchayat members also visited the Chief Minister, Industries Minister and Pollution Control Board Chairman on October 8 seeking their immediate intervention in the issue.