Kochi: Students of Anglo Tamil Lower Primary School in Munnar blocked the Kochi-Dhanushkodi national high way for a brief while on Friday protesting against the failure of the authorities to take action against the resorts and residential buildings in the area which pass their waste through the school compound.
“The children blocked the roads as they suffer from the passage of the waste, including septage, through the school compound,” said D. Manikandan, a parent. Munnar sub-inspector Vishnu Kumar said it was an agitation called at a short notice and the police intervened to end the blockade.
Mr Manikandan said the children have been complaining of foul smell emanating from the waste for a long time. “Though there has been a reduction in the intensity of the foul smell, the campus still is not free of it,” he said. The Parent-Teacher Association will meet and will decide on the course of future action which includes intensifying the agitation, he said. “The parents shall also join the agitation if warranted,” he said.
The Munnar panchayat had in June issued closure notice on five resorts in the old Munnar area including some in the vicinity of the school for passing the waste through the school compound and dumping them in the Muthirappuzha river. While one of the resorts has obtained a stay on the notice from the High Court, the others continue to function defying the fiat.
The student agitation comes in the wake of the continued action by the Revenue and local self government departments to end the flouting of norms in the construction and operation of tourism facilities in the area. The revenue department has already issued close to 100 stop-memos to structures under construction for the violation of land assignment rules. The health department is also conducting inspection of the facilities on the complaints that they do not conform to pollution control norms.
