Residents of Vadavukod-Puthencruz and Kunnathunadu panchayats are up in arms against the High Court order permitting all municipalities in the district to dump solid waste in the corporation-owned site at Brahmapuram.
According to the residents, the order will have far reaching consequences as the Brahmapuram site now has no waste treatment facility.
The existing treatment plant of the corporation is non-functional. Dumping of loads of untreated waste at the site will have serious ecological impact, they alleged.
“The Kochi Corporation currently dumps nearly 70 loads of untreated waste at the Brahmapuram site every day.
There is huge accumulation of municipal solid waste at the site as the processing could not be carried out for nearly a year and a half.
The waste pollutes the nearby water sources, including groundwater and River Kadambrayar, a major source of drinking water,” said Mr. Abdul Basheer, convener of the action council leading the protest.
River Kadambrayar is the drinking water source for six panchayats and two municipalities of the district. The major business houses like CEPZ, KINFRA parka and Info park in Thrikkakkara municipality are using the water from the river.
In protest against the HC order, the action council and the panchayat representatives staged a hunger strike in front of the court on Wednesday.
The action council will also submit a review petition in High Court. The action council members alleged that the government, the HC and the civic authorities were taking an indifferent stand towards the issue.
“The corporation should set up decentralized waste treatment facilities in each ward rather than spending huge amount of money for transporting the waste to a distant place,” remarked Mr. Basheer.
