The Hindu : Kerala News : Bid to dump waste at stadium resisted

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Thursday, Jun 19, 2008
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Kerala

Bid to dump waste at stadium resisted

Staff Reporter

Civic authorities accused of lackadaisical attitude

Time for action: Waste-laden municipal vehicles being blocked by the public, disrupting vehicular traffic on YMCA-Railway Station Road in Thiruvalla on Wednesday.

PATHANAMTHIITA: The civic body’s failure to dispose of garbage accumulated in different parts of Thiruvalla town has literally turned this small Central Travancore town into a “filth yard.”

Irate residents on Wednesday blocked the vehicles carrying waste to be dumped at the Municipal Stadium. Vehicular traffic on the Railway Station road was disrupted for about 20 minutes till the road block was cleared by the police.

Last week, the civic authorities had faced stiff resistance from the local people against dumping waste at the municipal stadium. It was dumped in a paddy field at Perunthuruthy on the outskirts of the town, later. However, the local people warned against dumping waste in the paddy fields located in the adjoining Peringara grama panchayat limits. Following the stand-off, no municipal worker had turned up to remove the waste heaped in the town since the past three days.

Till six months ago, the civic body had been dumping waste at the public stadium close to the private bus stand and the Pushpagiri Medical College.

The site was abandoned following opposition from the hospital authorities and local residents. The civic body later began dumping the waste in the wetland adjoining the municipal park. This was also abandoned after local residents raised concerns about incidents of birds dropping pieces of filth into wells and residential plots in the vicinity.

The majority of local residents in Thiruvalla feel that lack of initiative and commitment on the part of the authorities concerned has been the main hurdle in setting up a safe mechanism for waste disposal.

They alleged that the municipal authorities were least interested in setting up a scientifically designed modern sewage treatment plant.

“Their intention is to dump the waste in a low-lying private land so that they can convert the land under the guise of waste disposal,” alleged Mathai Chacko, a local resident.

He said the local people were planning to move court against the civic body’s “blatant violation of pollution control and public health maintenance rules.”

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