A dense pack of trees line either side of the road that deviates from the Elavupalam junction near Palode, to Thannimoodu, the site of the proposed biomedical waste treatment facility to be set up by the Indian medical Association Goes Eco-friendly (IMAGE). A kilometre away, a stream of crystal-clear water cuts across the mud road.
A short walk down a hill leads one to the site, located amid thick forests and adjacent to Myristica swamps, tropical fresh water swamp forests with an abundance of Myristica trees. A vanishing ecosystem, it is now largely confined to 53 patches in the Kulathupuzha and Anchal forest ranges and the Shendurney wildlife sanctuary.
Near the site live around 65 scheduled caste families, most of whom were unaware of the proposed plant until last week.
“We have been living in this region for years, in sync with the nature and the wildlife. Elephants, wild boars and sambar deer thrive in these regions. At times, they destroy our crops too, but still this ecosystem needs all of them. These swamps are filled with water even during the heights of the summer. They are a source of water for most of the streams in the area, which drain into the Vamanapuram river. Once you put up a waste treatment plant here, you are cutting off these water sources, and you will have a price to pay,” says Surendran, who resides in the nearby settlement.
Pointing at a path taken by an elephant near the swamp, he says that the environment impact studies have wrongly claimed that the site area is not frequented by elephants.
Kamarudeen, coordinator of the Peringamala Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC), says that waste treatment projects should ideally be set up in a dry area with more laterite soil.
“This region is part of the Agasthyamala biosphere reserve. It is a source of drinking water for thousands of people. The Shendurney wildlife sanctuary, one of the only few sanctuaries meant to protect trees, is located nearby.
The team that prepared the Environment Impact Assessment did not see any of this as it did not have any botanists or zoologists or other environmental experts as stipulated by the law,” he says.
According to Satheesan, a resident, no one from the region was informed before the previous public hearing at the Collectorate, which had to be cancelled.
“We were not purposefully informed about the hearing as they knew we would oppose, like what happened today. We will all oppose this plant at any cost, because we know what we will lose if this ecosystem is destroyed,” he says.
