The Hindu           07.08.2012

Orders to stop dumping at Pettippalam

The Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority (KCZMA) has said waste disposal at Pettippalam is in stark violation of the Coastal Regulation Zone norms.

In a letter, it instructed the Thalassery municipality to stop dumping garbage in the area henceforth. The letter dated July 23 and addressed to the secretary of the municipality said dumping of waste in the CRZ area was prohibited as per the CRZ notification, 1991 and 2011. The KCZMA asked the municipality ‘to stop all the illegal activities in the area and to undertake necessary steps to implement schemes for phasing out dumping’ in the area.

The steps should be in concurrence with the CRZ notification of 2011, according to the letter. The KCZMA warned that non-compliance would warrant action as per the Environment Protection Act 1986.

The KCZMA’s move followed a private petition on the issue. It also sought an explanation from the municipality on the issue, which was also discussed by the CZMA in its 50th meeting.

Responding to the letter, municipal vice-chairman C.K. Rameshan told The Hindu that the KCZMA had not taken into consideration the explanations rendered by the municipality in its letter to the authority.

The arguments put forward by the municipality had not been heeded to by the KCZMA, and hence the local body would go on an appeal against the order. This was also because Kerala was exempted from the CRZ Act, he said. Dumping in the area had been drastically cut down and the municipal authorities were studying the possibilities of a scientific waste treatment plant in the area, he added.

Local resistance

Owing to stiff protests from the residents of Pettippalam, dumping was stalled in the area between November 2011 and March 2012. After directions from the government, garbage dumping resumed in the area with the aid of police force in March that resulted in a violent clash between the protestors and the authorities.

Only limited loads of garbage were being dumped at the area since then, Mr. Rameshan said.