KOCHI:The National Green Tribunal (NGT), Chennai, has asked the Kerala Government to file a status report and the steps taken to improve the drainage system in the State, which is notorious for water-logging, following Supreme Court order.
The NGT Bench observed, “after hearing all the parties, an astonishing fact was revealed - that in the entire state of Kerala drainage problem is persisting for several years. As per the State Government, the Supreme Court had issued an order to take steps to improve the drainage system. Unfortunately, it has not been fully adhered to.”
The Bench comprising Judicial Member Justice P Jyothimani and Expert Member R Nagendran directed to implead the Chief Secretary, Thiruvananthapuram, and the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), Thiruvananthapuram. The Bench issued the order on a plea filed by the president of Green Garden Residents Association (GGRA), Kakkanad, seeking a directive to restrain the general manager of Park Residency Hotel from discharging sewage and trade effluents directly in public places and into a pond in the area.
Counsel for the petitioner Vidyalakshmi Vipin submitted that discharging sewage and trade effluents directly into the pond was an act in violation of all the applicable environmental laws.
The hotel officials submitted before the Tribunal that a building constructed for housing employees of the hotel was dismantled, and that no untreated effluent was being discharged into the pond. The Bench observed that there were materials to show that the hotel has been disposing untreated effluents into the water body, which is the case with the Greater Cochin Development Authority also.