Kochi: A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Tuesday directed the State Government to take action against the Vadavukode-Puthencruz panchayat under the provisions of the Kerala Panchayati Raj Act for obstructing the construction of the Brahmapuram waste treatment plant.

The Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan and Justice M.N. Krishnan said that if the Government did not take action, the court would be compelled to initiate contempt proceedings against it.

The order came on a petition filed by the Kochi Corporation Secretary seeking a directive to the panchayat to remove the obstructions on the road, which is the only one, leading to the Brahmapuram plant site.

The Bench also directed the Government Pleader to inform the court the reason for not granting police protection to the Corporation.

In the petition, the Corporation alleged that the panchayat had dug up trenches on the road leading to the plant site. Though the panchayat had claimed that trenches were dug to construct a culvert, it was to prevent the Corporation from carrying out the construction at the site, the Corporation Secretary said.

The Corporation said that 35 acres of land had been handed over for constructing the treatment plant at Brahmapuram. The Corporation had decided to set up the plant after obtaining opinions from experts. The plant would not cause any pollution in the area.

The court had earlier directed the Corporation to construct the plant in a time-bound manner. The Bench had also ordered the District Collector, Police Commissioner and other officials to ensure that there was no obstruction to the construction of plant.

The Bench observed that the Panchayat was duty-bound to comply with the directives of the court.

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