Kerala - Kochi   

Two persons injured in police action

Staff Reporter

Residents protest against dumping of garbage at Brahmapuram plant site

– Photo: Vipinchandran

Garbage problem: Policemen posted to protect the trucks carrying garbage to Brahmapuram on Saturday.

KOCHI: The police used force to disperse people who were protesting against the dumping of garbage on the proposed waste-treatment plant site at Brahmapuram on Saturday afternoon.

A large posse of policemen had been posted at the site. They used lathis to chase the mob which was protesting against dumping of garbage at the site before the treatment plant got ready.

Two persons were injured in the police action – Ramla, fainted following police action, and C.M. Sadiq, suffered fracture to his leg. Twenty-five persons, who were taken into custody and brought to the Ambalamedu Police Station, were released following protests.

The police later escorted 13 tipper lorries carrying garbage to the dumping site.

Shops downed shutters in the area in protest against the dumping of waste and the police action. The police were camping in the area to prevent untoward incidents.

By evening, residents nearby began complaining of dizziness and vomiting, following which 20 people were admitted to the Government Hospital, Vadavukode.

Local action council convener Abdul Basheer said the police used force without any provocation.

“We did not even get the opportunity to express our grievances. Staff members from the public health centre at Vadavukode visited the houses in the locality after the residents complained of vomiting. The situation will get worse in the coming days, since the garbage has been dumped on marshy land. There is also the likelihood of water bodies getting polluted,” he said.

The council would soon decide on the future course of action.

Meanwhile, the work on the proposed garbage-treatment plant was only in its early stage. The land was being levelled using mud, he said.

The decision to dump garbage at the site was taken following a meeting convened by District Collector A. P. M Mohammed Hanish on Saturday morning. City Police Commissioner Manoj Abraham and Mayor Mercy Williams were among those who participated in the meeting.

Heaps of uncleared garbage had been posing the threat of spreading contagious diseases in the city and its suburbs.

The Kerala High Court had pulled up the City Corporation for its inability to remove stinking garbage from different places in the city, despite many reminders. The court had also observed that the garbage should be dumped only on the site at Brahmapuram.

The court had granted the Corporation two days to remove the garbage on Thursday. It was in the background that a meeting was convened by the District Collector.

In its counter affidavit filed before the court, the Corporation had said that the land at Brahmapuram could not be used as dumping place since it was located on the banks of a river.

The provisions of the Municipal Solid Waste Handling Rules 2000 were applicable to the river banks.

The river water would also be polluted by such action, it had said.

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