The Coimbatore Corporation is not taking any steps for the effective implementation of Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules, the Coimbatore office of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has told its head office.
The contents of the report the District Environmental Engineer, Coimbatore (South), P. Asokan sent to the Member Secretary, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, have come to light in the reply to the RTI queries the Secretary of the Kurichi-Vellalore Pollution Prevention Action Committee, K.S. Mohan, filed soon after a fire broke out at the Vellalore waste management facility on October 6
In the report, Mr. Asokan has listed the violations the TNPCB officials noticed during the inspection they conducted in the aftermath of the fire.
He has said: “The facility [Vellalore waste management yard] is receiving only unsegregated municipal solid wastes from the city; the received unsegregated wastes along with plastics are simply dumped in the facility in heaps, leading to generation of methane from decaying waste. The same is highly combustible and causes frequent fires; the buffer zone maintained between the residential area and the facility is not adequate. This leads to frequent complaints from the public; and, though there is frequent fire accident, the Corporation has not made any report to this office [District Environment Engineer’s office, Coimbatore] in this regard.”
He has also said that the “Coimbatore Corporation is not taking any steps for effective implementation of Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules.” And told the head office that under Section (5) of the Environment Protection Act, it may initiate necessary action.
Consequent upon the October 8 letter, the Chairman of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, C.V. Sankar, met the Coimbatore Corporation and district administration officials and asked the former to initiate a few steps and report the same to the TNPCB. (For details on the steps to be taken see graphic).
