The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has said that no concrete steps have been taken by the respective authorities against the unauthorised discharge of sewage into the Edappally and Perandoor canals.
“We regret to state that even after almost 23 months, no concrete steps have been taken and the action that are so far taken by the respective authorities are going only at a snail’s pace,” said the Southern Bench of the tribunal comprising Pushpa Sathyanarayana, Judicial Member, and Satyagopal Korlapati, Expert member in its latest order.
The tribunal had taken suo motu notice of the report titled “Faecal contamination high in Perandoor, Edappally Canals” published in The Hindu on January 28, 2021. The Bench pointed out that the uniform answer that we received from the authorities is that these violations are from those establishments which are prior to 2004.
“Even if it is prior to 2004, the above issue needs to be addressed and it is the government which should step in aid to the residents or the establishments to deal with the same. It is the duty of the government to ensure that each building (be it residential or commercial) should have a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) or be connected to a Common STP or Faecal Sludge Treatment Plant, which is more economical as a temporary measure,” it said.
The Bench said that it will be difficult to save waterbodies and canals in Kerala without taking any steps to address the major issue.
