Employing migrant labourers for the unlawful dumping of septage and non-degradable waste is the new way of private agencies involved in the large-scale collection and disposal of waste from private apartments, hospitals and restaurants in the district. It helps them save on labour cost besides exploiting the labourer’s ignorance on the issue.
A resident at Mokavoor said they had recently spotted several vehicles carrying waste that were operated by migrant labourers. Though the local people blocked the vehicles and tried to call the police, the labourers looked ignorant of the issue, he said.
Even the police failed to find out the details of the real agents from migrant labourers who were recently held in connection with such cases.
The police said the number of intermediaries was high in the business and the labourers who take up the job for a quick buck after their routine works were least bothered of the consequences. “With the increased surveillance along the Canolly Canal after the recent cleaning drive, unlicensed agencies are now exploiting unguarded wetlands and deserted fields along the Kozhikode bypass road,” said Gireesh Kumar, a native of Vengeri. He pointed out that several families settled closer to the bypass road were now bearing the brunt of such agencies’ acts.
Some of the volunteers, who recently took part in the Canolly Canal cleaning drive, said they even spotted container lorries loaded with chicken and other degradable waste from other districts here. On Thursday, one such container carrying chicken waste from Kasaragod was intercepted by people at Vadakara. Two of the workers who were taken into police custody from the lorry were migrant labourers, the police said.
Policemen attached to the highway patrol squad said they had intensified night checking on all major city roads to track the movement of suspected waste carriers.
