Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Construction of biogas plant stayed

Thiruvananthapuram: Ombudsman for Local Self-Government Institutions M.R. Hariharan Nair has issued an order restraining the Vizhinjam grama panchayat from continuing work on the construction of a biogas plant at Kovalam. The panchayat committee has been directed to take a decision on shifting the project from the approved site at Kadaikulam.

The order was based on a petition filed by K. Sukumaran and A. Suresh Babu arguing that the decision to set up the plant in Kovalam ward 1 was not approved by the panchayat committee. They alleged that the Rs.23.92-lakh project was part of a corrupt deal involving the panchayat chairperson, secretary, a few members and a private contractor. The petitioners also said that the project did not have the mandatory clearance from the State Pollution Control Board (PCB). They alleged that the panchayat was using the police to crush a protest launched by local people against locating the garbage plant in a thickly-populated area.

In their deposition, the panchayat vice-president and other members said there was no valid decision to establish the plant at Kovalam ward 1. They argued that 13 out of the 22 members in the council were against locating the plant at Kovalam.

In the order issued on Monday, the Ombudsman termed the case as an unusual one in which the panchayat vice- president had crossed swords with the president and her supporters. The order notes that there was no valid decision to shift the project site from Kadaikulam to Kovalam. It directs the panchayat committee to secure a written transfer of land from the Tourism Department, which owns the site.

“The establishment of a biogas plant in an appropriate place is the need of the hour and the panchayat has to be encouraged to do it. But to set up the plant at Kovalam, it has to fulfil the requirements,” it says.

The Ombudsman has ordered the secretary to be present at the meeting of the panchayat committee to discuss the issue of shifting the project site. The Director of Panchayats was requested to be present as an observer and submit a report of the proceedings. The Performance Audit Wing was also directed to investigate the allegations of financial irregularities and report it.

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