Vengola panchayat in Perumbavoor near here has demanded that a detailed survey be conducted into the high incidence of deaths due to cancer in the panchayat.
A special meeting convened by the panchayat recently requested the State Health Minister to institute a comprehensive probe into the matter.
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A large number of plywood manufacturing units are situated in the panchayat and environmental activists under the banner of Action Council for Environmental Protection have been crying foul at the unrestricted growth of the polluting units in residential areas. Many of the units are said to be functioning in violation of environmental regulations, resulting in pollution of drinking water sources as well as air.
The activists attribute the high incidence of cancer to the highly polluting environment.
The activists have been protesting against the functioning of wood-based industries in residential areas. The district administration had agreed after a long drawn protest last year to probe the matter, but no concrete steps have been initiated yet. The council chairman K.Varghese said the panchayat had at least 200 plywood and veneer units that make use of ‘urea formaldehyde’, a chemical compound, in the manufacturing process.
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The majority of the units do not have proper mechanism to handle the harmful compound. The waste materials are dumped into rivulets or burned in nearby fields, polluting the environment. Rayamangalam, an adjoining panchayat, as well as many other local bodies in the area, are facing similar problems.
A central empowered committee, appointed by the Supreme Court had gone into the issue, based on a petition filed by a resident in the pollution–affected area. The committee had submitted its recommendations seeking stringent measures to curb pollution.