Council plans contempt case

State's failure to implement court order on Vilappilsala plant

United Democratic Frontcouncillors shouting slogans during the CorporationCouncil meeting in Thiruvananthapuram onWednesday.Photo:C.Ratheesh kumar

Even as the capital faces a major epidemic threat due to tonnes of untreated, accumulated waste, the Corporation council, which met here on Wednesday, failed to reach a consensus on garbage disposal.

Discussion on the Vilappilsala treatment plant ended in ruckus at the meeting. Amidst the din, the council passed a resolution to move for contempt of court against the State government for failing to implement the Supreme Court and High Court directives to reopen the controversial plant.

Works standing committee chairman V.S. Padmakumar, who moved the resolution, said that the State government was trying to shun its responsibility. “Instead of facilitating the reopening of the plant as per the court ruling, the government is still asking us to landfill all the garbage. Around 30,000 tonnes of garbage has already been landfilled here in the past five months,” he said.

Supporting the resolution, Deputy Mayor G. Happykumar said that Suchitwa Mission, which was providing technical support to the government on the issue, was also putting forward unrealistic proposals like landfilling quarries.

‘Give alternative'

“We are not bent on re-opening the Vilappilsala plant. All we want is a centralised facility to treat hundreds of tonnes of waste that cannot be treated at household level. If the government cannot facilitate reopening of the Vilappilsala plant, they should come up with some alternative,” he said.

Opposition UDF members opposed the allegations against the government. UDF council party leader Johnson Joseph said that municipal waste management was the primary responsibility of the Corporation.

Thampanoor ward member R. Harikumar said that the Corporation, which could not even set up a biogas plant on its office premises, had no right to blame the State government.

In between, BJP councillors staged a walk-out alleging that both the Corporation and the State government had failed in dealing with the Vilappilsala issue.

Following this, Poojappura councillor Maheshwaran Nair requested the Mayor to convene a special council to discuss ways for implementing the apex court directive.

Ms. Chandrika rejected the request which led to vociferous protests from the Opposition members, who barged to the centre of the council and raised slogans against the Corporation.

Earlier the council condoled the death of Revolutionary Marxist Party leader T.P. Chandrasekharan who was murdered at Onchiyam on May 4.