KOCHI: The Green Bench of the Kerala High Court, which deals with petitions pertaining to environmental issues, started functioning on Friday.
The Bench, comprising Chief Justice S R Bannurmath and Justice Thottathil Radhakrishan, will be holding sittings every Friday.
The Bench will consider petitions regarding forest conservation, illegal felling of tress and waste management issues. However, criminal cases registered in connection with environmental issues will not be considered by the Green Bench. In the first sitting of the Green Bench on Friday, 14 petitions, including a petition praying the Court to issue and order to protect Mangalavanam, came up for consideration.
The Green Bench has been constituted exclusively to deal with environmental issues.
Only a few High Courts in the country have Green Benches.
Directives issued on first day
On Friday, the Green Bench directed the Aluva Municipal secretary to appear before it next Friday in person to give explanation for not constructing a waste treatment plant. The Bench also directed the municipal authorities to provide the details of the funds the Municipality spent for waste treatment and the steps taken to solve the issue.
The petition in this regard was filed by the Aluva Paristhithi Samrakshana Sangham. In the petition, it submitted that waste was being dumped in the Periyar and the Municipality was not taking any action against it. The Green Bench also directed the Piravom panchayat secretary to take immediate steps to clean the drains under the jurisdiction of the panchayat.
The Bench also asked the secretary to submit an action- taken report on December 17.
The petition challenging the construction of drains was filed by Tony Pettiyamkunnel and A A Kurian. In the petition, they submitted that the drain which opens to the river would be harmful to the environment. The minor irrigation executive engineer, the second respondent in the case, in an affidavit filed before the Court, had submitted that cleaning of the drains was the responsibility of the panchayat.