COIMBATORE: The Southern Zone of the National Green Tribunal has directed the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) to come up with an action plan, along with a timeline, to clear garbage that is piling at the Vellalore dump yard on December 14.
The interim order was issued recently, based on a fresh case filed by K S Mohan, Secretary of the Kurichi Vellalore Pollution Prevention Action Committee. The case was taken up for hearing by the tribunal, consisting of Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana and judicial member and expert Satyagopal Korlapatti.
Mohan urged the tribunal to stop the CCMC from dumping unsegregated waste and take steps to restore the ecology of the area.
The tribunal took note of the corporation’s report submitted before the state-level monitoring committee led by Justice P Jyothimani a few months ago that mentioned legacy waste would be taken care of within 15 months. But no action plan was submitted within the timeline, following which the NGT demanded an action plan from the CCMC in its next hearing on December 14.
“The corporation should also make it clear before the tribunal whether it is intending to continue the dump yard in the same location or it can be shifted to any other place and clear the pending waste,” said the order. It suo motu impleaded the additional chief secretary, department of municipal administration and water supply and instructed him to visit the spot, if necessary, and approve the action plan put forth by the corporation. The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has been instructed to suggest a solution for the restoration of the dump yard. It has also been instructed to undertake an air, water and soil analysis.
The tribunal stated that the Local Planning Authority should take into account the garbage disposal mechanism available while approving new residential areas. Since the LPA was not implemented in the case, it suo moto impleaded the district collector as a respondent.
CCMC Commissioner M Prathap told TNIE, “We are yet to receive the copy of the NGT order, following which we will send our response. We do have an action plan on clearing the wastes from the Vellalore Dump yard.”