The Kerala High Court on Thursday directed DGP Jacob Punnoose to provide police protection to the officials of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation from August 3 onwards for transporting machinery for the construction of the leachate treatment unit at the Vilappilsala waste treatment plant until it is ready for operation.
The state government said that police protection will be given to garbage-carrying trucks of the corporation. It added that the waste can be taken to the factory after completing the leachate treatment plant and sanitary landfill.
A Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice A M Shaffique issued the directive on a petition filed by Thiruvananthapuram Corporation seeking police protection to transport machinery and 200 truck-loads of clay for the construction of the plant. The bench had earlier directed the government to file an affidavit specifying a convenient date on which it could provide police protection. Nedumangad DySP Muhamed Shafi submitted that the police can offer protection on any day from August 1. The police have been giving protection to take out processed garbage from the plant to different places. So far, 18 loads of processed garbage were taken out during the past two weeks, the DySP said.
The Police Department said that the waste should be transported only after the completion of the leachate treatment plant is ready for operation. ”If more loads of solid waste are taken to the factory without such a plant, there is every possibility of untoward incidents,” the police said.
Additional Secretary to the government G Sivaprasad submitted that a major part of the construction of the plant has been completed. “Problems related to the functioning of the compost plant can be solved by completing sanitary land fill and the leachate plant,” he said. According to the state, various steps have been taken for decentralisation of waste management, and the loads of waste that are coming to the general pool will be reduced considerably.