Puducherry and Oulgaret municipalities have resumed illegal dumping of municipal solid waste at Kurumbapet from Tuesday, a site that was barred by the Pondicherry Pollution Control Committee (PPCC) to prevent environmental degradation through an order on Jan 18, 2011. The step was taken by the municipalities after the municipal tractors could not reach the dumping yard at Karuvadikuppam, near Puducherry airport, as the Tamil Nadu government impounded around 11 garbage trucks on Monday.
The tractors were impounded while on way to the yard through the villages of Navarkulam and Pattanur that fall in Tamil Nadu on the three kilometre route.
The villagers objected to the uncovered tractors doing the daily rounds through their village, following which the Vanur panchayat council adopted a resolution banning the plying of garbage vehicles through the villages. This was sent to Pondicherry and Oulgaret municipalities, but the municipalities paid no heed as they had no alternative. Subsequently the panchayat took up the matter with Villupuram district collector, who ordered to impound the vehicles.
Now with no other alternative place available for dumping of garbage, the tractors are again back at Kurumbapet. The concern is the pollution and contamination of water in the area as the drinking water supplied to Puducherry is from the deep borewells in the area, also close to the water body of Ousteri and the aquifers.
“Garbage dumping in this area is in complete violation of the Environmental Protection Act of 1986, Biomedical Handling Rules of 1998 and Municipal Solid waste (Management and Handling Rules) of 2000,” said a PPCC official. The PPCC had passed the ban order as there are also no environmental safeguards.
The PPCC has also warned actions if the municipalities fail to stop dumping. Pondicherry Environment Protection Association (PEPA), which earlier moved the Madras HC against the dumping, has now raised objection to the dumping of the waste, biomedical waste at site.
The PPCC is also in a fix over the dumping in violation of its order. On one side, it is in line with the government policy to dump garbage there, simultaneously PPCC will have to go against the policy to enforce the environment protection act.
PEPA has also threatened to take legal action against the PPCC for inaction under the Environment Protection Act, Air Act and MSW rules.
“We are going to talk to the panchayat people and sort out the issue. There has been complaints of the tractors not being covered,” said S Sundaravadivelu, special secretary and director, local administration department.