KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Thursday directed the state government to initiate steps to set up a centralised waste treatment- cumpower generation plant in Ernakulam and file a report within one month.The court also asked those municipalities which have no waste treatment plant to dump the waste except plastic and nonbio degradable at Brahmapuram waste management plant until further orders.A Division Bench comprising Justice C N Ramachandran Nair and Justice P S Gopinathan passed the order after considering the submissions of District Collector P I Sheik Pareeth, chairpersons of 11 municipalities in the district, their secretaries, Mayor Tony Chammany and corporation secretary Ajith Patil with regards to waste management.The heads of local bodies along with the Collector held a discussion with the judges in the court room on Thursday. The peoples’ representatives unanimously agreed that effective steps would be taken for waste management in the district.Some of the municipalities, including Aluva and Eloor, informed that they have their own land but public protest is a hurdle for dumping waste. “Dumping waste in plastic bags causes pollution and it should be stopped.Waste is becoming a big problem in the state. There should be one plant for the district and 100 acres should be allotted for the project,” the court said.The court also directed the District Collector to provide facilities to all households in the district for treatment of waste in their own compounds. Gadgets and equipment should be provided for the households.With the help of residents associations, the waste collection should be done and the assistance of Kudumbashree members can be sought for collecting waste, the court held.Mayor Tony Chammany, however, opposed the idea of dumping waste from all the municipalities before setting up a plant. “Strong public protest may arise if waste is dumped at Brahmapuram before setting up the plant,” the Mayor said.The court said that if the corporation finds any congestion in the plant, it should be brought to the notice of the court. It directed the corporation to clean the plastic waste at the Brahmapuram plant. The court asked the municipality chairpersons to identify suitable land for setting up dumping yards and directed the District Collector to give proper directions.“Whenever there is public resistance, the Collector should look into the public grievance and arrange police protection for the municipalities for dumping wastes in their own yards,” the court held.
Comments
0 comment