KOCHI: None is immune to the government’s strict enforcement of anti-dumping rules. Recently, playback singer M G Sreekumar had to face the music and pay Rs 25,000 as fine in connection with the dumping of waste into the backwaters from his vacation home on the Bolgatty Island in Kochi.
The Mulavukkad grama panchayat in Ernakulam fined the popular singer Rs 25,000 after a tourist shot a video of a person dumping waste into the Vembanad lake from the singer’s property and posted it on social media, tagging the authorities.
Those reporting such offences can earn 25% of the fine amount, as per the local self-government department’s (LSGD) Malinya Muktha Nava Keralam campaign which aims to make the state garbage-free.
“The incident occurred on the evening of March 29. As tourists were filming the area while on a boat, they captured a person illegally disposing of a packet of trash from Sreekumar’s residence, located near the Bolgatty water metro terminal, into the backwaters. The guide sent the footage to the LSGD office in Thiruvananthapuram, and we were alerted. Officials with the panchayat inspected the place and provided confirmation,” said Mulavukad panchayat president V S Akbar.
The local body issued a notice to Sreekumar and the singer remitted the amount.
Akbar said such actions from responsible citizens cannot be tolerated. “We will take action against those who make mistakes. The panchayat was declared garbage-free on March 28 and we need to ensure the panchayat limits are neat and clean. We have systems like Haritha Karma Sena and bio-bins to ensure proper management of waste and we expect the residents to follow the rules,” Akbar told TNIE.
Sreekumar told reporters that he “accepts the fault” but explained that his domestic help threw the remains of mangoes that fell from the tree on the premises into the backwaters.
“I received a call from the principal secretary’s office asking to inspect my residence over a complaint of illegal waste disposal. They inspected my residence. I usually don’t stay there. So there isn’t much waste. When I went there, I saw the notice with a Rs 25,000 fine for throwing waste. My domestic help threw the remains of mangoes. As it is my residence, I remitted the fine. It is a mistake and I accept it,” Sreekumar said.
The singer also said the authorities, however, are not aware of tonnes of waste illegally disposed of from hospitals and other places into the backwaters and other places in Kochi. “I hope they will be as vigilant and watchful when it comes to these rampant waste disposals too,” he said.