Chennai: The Southern Zone of National Green Tribunal has prohibited the dumping of medical waste along Puzhal lake by private companies.
Initiating suo motu proceedings, the bench, comprising Judicial Member Justice Dr P. Jyothimani and Expert Member P.S. Rao, passed the interim order on the dumping of medical waste and other debris on the lake and along the catchment areas.
The lake, spread over 20.86 acres of land, has a total storage capacity of 3,300 mcft. On October 10, a Tamil newspaper published news regarding dumping of medical waste in Puzhal lake and water being contaminated.
Based on the news items, the bench initiated suo motu proceedings on Tuesday and restrained discharge of the medical waste on the lake. The PWD has been maintaining the lake.
Places such as Red Hills, Puzhal, Soorapattu, Shanmugapuram, Murugambedu, Kallikuppam, Banu Nagar, Venkateswara Nagar, Tirumullaivoyil and Arikkambedu are located along the lake bund.
Besides open defecation, debris from construction sites, chicken and mutton waste from stalls were dumped along the lake bund. When the matter came up for hearing, counsel appearing for the State government informed the bench that all the medical waste had been removed. After passing the interim order, the bench posted the matter to November 23 for further hearing.
