Bench orders notice to State Government, TNPCB and Corporation Commissioner
The Madras High Court Bench here on Wednesday took suo motu notice of a photo feature that appeared in The Hindu on June 25 highlighting the unhygienic conditions in and around the district due to dumping of garbage and plastic waste.
Taking up the newspaper publication itself as public interest litigation petition, a Division Bench comprising Justice R. Banumathi and Justice B. Rajendran ordered notice to the State Government, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board as well as the Madurai Municipal Corporation commissioner.
The judges directed a government counsel to file a detailed report with regard to the action taken by them in connection with the issue. They also included Samayanallur Municipality as a party to the case as one of the photographs had captured burning of garbage in an open ground there.
The photographs had also shown the Vaigai choked with plastic waste with no sign of water. They exhibited the pathetic condition of a canal that connects Melamadai and Sadhasiva Nagar overflowing with trash apart from the garbage dumped near Pandikovil. The prayer in the suo motu PIL, filed in the name of Registrar (Judicial) of the High Court Bench, was to direct the officials to take effective and emergent steps to remove the plastic waste that choked River Vaigai, remove the trash that overflows the canal, to restrict and control burning of garbage at Samayanallur and to restore the sanctity of Pandikovil.
Keywords: civic issue, PIL petition, garbage collection, plastic waste, River Vaigai, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board
This action is what is required and this is the need of the hour. We see all this around us and we walk away not bothered at all. If each and every one of us takes civic responsibilities seriously we can make every city, every town and every village clean. Now let us wait and see the outcome of the court’s interference in this. We will need to follow this till the end and if the river is cleansed keep the river clean ever after!
Kudos to The Hindu.
Many thanks to the Honorable High Court Bench.
Thanks to the Judges.
Thank you Hindu for this Photo. This indeed flags the Alarm ! ! !
During my childhood days where, during October vacations, every day I used to have playful time in a Stream in my Village. Water used to be so Clean that we used to use it even for Drinking without filtering it. Now, its all gone . . .
Diminishing monsoon and over usage has made the Stream into Drainage
I thing this is not first time that THE HINDU PHOTO taken for the court case. so every time the hindu photo speak the verdict case and win the case aslo
while the two pillars of democracy; executive and legislative branches are always involved in qualms and are not doing any bit for the country, it is very heartening to see the other two, Judiciary and Media, take up the responsibility. My congratulations to both.
Now to all media including Hindu, this is no time to be complacent, just give yourself a pat on the back and get to work, expose more such anarchy existing in the state. You and I know we have millions such and miles to go!
Good Job, Judiciary. Good job Hindu too.
Thanks to The Hindu and it is FANTASTIC move by HC considering the photo
as PIL and taking action. Hope more such actions are taken considering
the daily's credibility and resolve many more problems. Praying that the issue is getting resolved with continuous monitoring.
Great job The Hidhu!!
A Welcome move by the Court
What the officials doing? may be busy appeasing politicians. department
officials are burden to country.
We are proud of you! Hindu is one newspaper in India which is talked about in high regards.
Keep living up to the expectations!
There seems to be a total disregard for law and in general public concern in TN right from Busdriver driving off Gemini Fly over and the plight of garbage dump in almost most to the rivers and lakes in chennai and all over TN , urininating in public places , wreckless driving , thefts and murders and the crowd in TASMAC shops .
There seems to be a major cultural breakdown which will lead to total anarchy very soon . I have travelled across India. No other state is in such a situation of all odds !
I crossed the Vaigai river at Madurai by train yesterday. Whatever little water in the river is raw sewage. And there were people washing clothes in that sewage water! There was row upon row of clothes hung to dry. Some of the clothes looked like white bed sheets. From hotels, hostels, hospitals?? This unhygienic practice should stop but peoples livelihoods are also at stake. Can the city provide clean water to rinse the clothes on the river banks?
There is only ONE solution to this problem. A country-wide COMPLETE ban on ALL kinds of plastic bags/cups etc. 25 years back, we didn't have these bags and life was just fine. In fact, it was better than today. Even though a ban is in force in some parts of the country, it is violated by everyone, including the so-called "educated" people.
I've never seen any other media source as socially responsible as The
Hindu. Few channels did some sting operations to increase their
viewership, but not proactive in addressing day-to-day common man
problems. Here credit should be given to the judges as well who made
right use of rules to improve the situation. Hope other state judges
get inspired by this.
There should be a lot more of this civic reporting.
This is the face of Indian Politicians. If you have any unwanted dameged shoes, you can throw it here.
Hopefully some good has to come from this paper's drive. When will the political
class be educated enough to appreciate the damage that is being propagated
because of their ignorance.
The garbage will be taken from one place and dumped in another. This is classic symptomatic problem solving. We need to look at the cause of the problem, people's behaviours of dumping and also of increasing use of plastics that don't degrade for a long time. Even if addressing these take a long time. I think they are worthwhile taking up through education that promotes action to clean up the mess as well as to avoid dumping.
Bravo The Hindu ! Hats Off !
Please Email the Editor