The State Level Monitoring Committee (SLMC) on solid waste management has informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that, going by the present pace of work, the removal of debris from the apartment demolition sites at Maradu would not be completed within the 45-day schedule fixed by the Supreme Court.
“It is apt to note that the progress of segregation and removal of waste is not at the expected speed. During the start-up meeting of the Joint Committee [constituted as per the orders of the tribunal], it was informed by the Sub Collector, Kochi, that the time for removal of debris fixed by the Supreme Court is 45 days. If things are moving at the present pace, the process would not be completed within the time specified,” said a report filed by the SLMC before the NGT.
The committee has urged the tribunal to issue strict time-bound directions, the violation of which would entail penal consequences to all concerned, to complete the process of removal of demolition waste from all the four sites in Maradu municipality as per the statutory norms and regulations.
It said that the service providers had sought a longer period for complete removal of the debris. However, neither the SLMC nor the government can extend the time as it is absolutely within the competence of the Supreme Court, according to the report.
The committee pointed out that the Maradu municipality authorities had not been able to collect the updated specific details related to the debris removal. The details given as on February 10 are vague and without specifics.
Windbreakers around the sites as mandated by the statute have not been provided. Sprinkle systems too have not been provided.
Protective measures
Dust mitigation measures have not been displayed at the site for public viewing. No protective measures such as geo-textiles had been provided in the trenches near the lake side of Alfa Serene and Golden Kayaloram to prevent the flow of contaminated water into the backwaters, it said.
The report said physical verification revealed that 40% of steel was segregated and 35% of steel removed from the sites. However, authentic details of storage or recycling units were yet to be submitted.
Waste processing
The logbook details of the sites to which the debris is being transported are not legible. Even though Prompt Enterprises (private agency entrusted with the task of debris removal) claims that a construction-and-demolition-waste processing facility is being set up at Kumbalam, no such facility has been installed there and no waste deposited at the site, according to the report.
