The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Protest against setting up of waste treatment plant at Varkala

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 13, 2006

Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Protest against setting up of waste treatment plant at Varkala

Special Correspondent

Thiruvananthapuram: The Varkala Paristhiti Samrakshana Samithi has decided to intensify its agitation against the proposed garbage treatment plant to be set up by the municipality at Sreenivasapuram.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, samithi leaders Sreekumar and Jayaprakash alleged that the municipal authorities had identified the land for the project without assessing the environmental impact or the geographical features.

They said the sloping terrain was unsuited for the project. The leaders pointed out that the abundant groundwater resources in the area would be contaminated by leachate from the plant.

Mr. Sreekumar said the municipal authorities had failed to discuss the project with the local people and take them into confidence.

The samithi said that the project site was one of the most densely populated areas in Varkala municipal area.

In the absence of a treatment facility, the leachate from the plant would flow into TS canal, contaminating the water. The hazardous chemicals used for garbage treatment would affect soil fertility and contaminate drinking water sources.

The leaders said the project would affect nearly 8,000 students attending various educational institutions in the vicinity of the plant. The samithi also alleged that the municipality had hoodwinked the residents into parting with their land.

He noted that the project was not based on scientific studies. "It has not been approved by the Geological Survey Department, Environment Department or the Clean Kerala Mission. The municipality is learnt to have given Rs.10 lakhs as advance to a Kasaragode based company to install the plant," he said.

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