Kerala - Kochi   

Waste disposal: notice issued to government

Kochi: A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court, on Wednesday, issued notice to the State government, secretaries of Local Administration and Health and Family Welfare departments and other respondents in suo motu proceedings against unscientific disposal of accumulated waste in the State.

The Bench, comprising Chief Justice H.L. Dattu and Justice K.M. Joseph, directed the respondents to file counter-affidavits, if any, in 15 days.

The suo motu proceedings were on the basis of a note given by Justice Thottathil B. Radhadkrishnan.

The Kochi police recently arrested two crew members of a tanker lorry on charges of dumping septic tank waste into the backwaters near the Thoppumpadi bridge.

The arrest was made on the direction of the judge, who saw waste being emptied from the lorry into the backwaters while travelling past the bridge.

He gave chase to the lorry. The crew escaped after abandoning the vehicle.

In his note, the judge said that tanker lorries were put to use for removal of accumulated waste, particularly from septic tanks.

If such disposal of waste continued unabated and without regulations by competent authorities, it would pose an imminent danger to public health. Therefore, appropriate regulations were absolutely necessary.

The judges raised certain points in this regard. Some of them were as follows: whether there was any mechanism to ensure safety and pollution audits of tanker lorries being used for removing waste; whether the persons engaged in operating such tanker lorries required to be registered with any public health authorities or the pollution control board authorities; whether there were any measures to identify appropriate places for dumping such wastes; if not, whether it was necessary to frame such norms including levy for discharge of waste; and what were the steps taken by the district administration, the local bodies, the pollution control board and the public health authorities to regulate dumping of wastes and prevent public nuisances on this count.

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