The Vilappilsala Janakeeya Samithi will boycott the Pollution Control Board (PCB) team scheduled to visit and inspect the garbage treatment facility at Vilappilsala based on a recent directive from the High Court.
The samithi, at loggerheads with the Samyukta Samara Samithi comprising panchayat members, among others, said in a statement here on Friday that it would organise a mass sit-in at Vilappilsala from 8 a.m. on Monday till 6 p.m. on April 11. (The PCB team is scheduled to visit the place on Monday and it is expected to file a report in the High Court on April 11). The samithi said all those opposed to the plant would take part in the sit-in. Samithi president S. Burhan said the High Court’s directive to conduct a study on the feasibility of the garbage plant was equal to insulting the residents of Vilappilsala who had been fighting against the facility for over a decade. The government, he said, had taken a stand supporting the Corporation’s arguments in favour of the factory. The panchayat’s counsel, who had not reportedly appeared in court during the hearing, had submitted recommendations supporting the study. This was proof that there was a high-level conspiracy against the public of the panchayat, he added.
