Residents at Vandithadam, near Pachalloor, were aghast to see several gunny sacks packed with putrefying slaughter waste dumped in the middle of the road. Irate residents staged a protest and summoned the police and municipal authorities.
Assistant Commissioner, Fort, M. Radhakrishnan Nair said a nearby hotel had dumped the waste on the road early on Sunday. He said several bills carrying the name of the hotel were found in the waste. The police had booked the hotel management on the charges of criminal negligence, littering and polluting the local environment.
Corporation Health Officer D. Sreekumar said that the sacks were removed and landfilled. “We are trying to trace who dumped the sacks. Preliminary reports say that these sacks were dumped from a vehicle of traders' from Tamil Nadu who collected the waste from hoteliers for a price promising to dispose it,” he said.
Mayor stages protest
Mayor K. Chandrika staged a protest at the Pothencode police station accusing the local police of seizing an earthmover used to compress urban waste near a landfill at Murukumpuzha railway station. Deputy Superintendent of Police, Prasanthan Kani, said the police seized the earthmover after several distress calls from a local resident. When they realised later that the Corporation had contracted the vehicle for work at the landfill, they tried to release the vehicle. But some local politicians prevailed upon the driver to accept receipt of the vehicle only after the Mayor reached the station, he said.
“It seems there is some conspiracy. First our earthmover was seized by the village officer. Later when the District Collector intervened and the earthmover was released, the police came to the scene and arrested the contractor and driver. These unnecessary hindrances are costing precious time for the Corporation,'' Ms. Chandrika said.
