COIMBATORE: As winter haze covers the city, residents across many parts of Coimbatore are once again grappling with foul odour emanating from the Vellalore dumpyard.
Complaints have been pouring in not only from neighbourhoods close to the dumpyard but also from areas located several kilometres away, raising concerns over public health. Environmentalists attribute this to the unusual haze and mist this winter. They have urged the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) to take immediate and effective measures to control the situation.
KS Mohan, secretary of Kurichi-Vellalore Pollution Prevention Action Committee, has submitted petitions to the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) and CCMC commissioner, highlighting what he described as an "unbearable and unprecedented" odour affecting residents for months. According to him, people living in Podanur, Vellalore, Kurichi and surrounding areas within a 10-km radius have been severely affected. Mohan alleged that residents' fundamental right to breathe clean air and live in a healthy environment had been denied.
Mohan also referred to proceedings before the National Green Tribunal (NGT), stating that despite multiple hearings over the past three years and repeated opportunities granted to clear legacy waste, little progress had been made. He further alleged that directions from the Central and State Pollution Control Boards prohibiting the dumping of fresh waste had been violated by the CCMC. The dumpyard, he said, was functioning without necessary approvals from the environment department and TNPCB. The case before the NGT is now in its final stages of hearing.
On Tuesday, Mohan, along with local residents and activists, met the CCMC mayor and commissioner and submitted a detailed petition demanding immediate action to control the odour and shift the dumpyard as a permanent solution.
The petition highlighted health issues such as breathing difficulties, headaches, nausea and stress, particularly affecting children, women and the elderly, and warned that the area had effectively become unfit for habitation. Residents also pointed out that while the civic body had earlier carried out spraying and fogging during winter to suppress the stench. However, no such measures have been taken in recent times by the civic body.
Despite repeated attempts by TNIE, CCMC Commissioner M Sivaguru Prabakaran was unavailable for a response.