Justice Dr. P Jothimani stated that the Coimbatore Corporation has been given an additional 15 months time to ensure removal of garbage from the Vellalore dumping ground. He also added that once in three months, a report should be given on the work done by the Corporation to clear the garbage.
Coimbatore: The Chairman of the Monitoring Committee of the National Green Tribunal, Justice Dr. P Jothimani has stated that the Coimbatore Municipal Corporation has been given 15 months time to dispose of all the garbage from the Vellalore dumping ground, with a mandatory report to be submitted every three months on the progress of the work done.
Lakhs of tonnes of garbage has been dumped in the Coimbatore Corporation's garbage depot at Vellalore. In 2013, Easwaran filed a case in the Chennai Green Tribunal alleging that the public was being adversely affected by the Vellalore dumpyard. The Court ruled in 2018 that the garbage should be removed within a year of completion of the trial in the case. But since the garbage had not been removed thus far, Easwaran again filed a contempt of court case in the National Green Tribunal in Delhi.
A team led by Justice Dr. P Jothimani visited the Vellalore garbage depot and micro-compost manufacturing units in Coimbatore on Thursday. Following this, a meeting was held again on Friday in the presence of the District Collector, G S Sameeran, Corporation Commissioner M Prathap, Corporation officials and the general public.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, the Monitoring Committee Chairman said, "I had undertaken an inspection in January 2020 to monitor the functioning of the Vellalore garbage depot and after that, yesterday, I inspected the Vellalore garbage depot. The public also participated and put forward their problems and demands. In fact, for the last 20 years, people have been facing problems with garbage dumps. It is also true that as per the 2019 judgement, garbage should have been removed completely from the area.
However, the Municipal Corporation has said that the garbage could not be removed due to the Covid-19 pandemic constraints. In today's meeting, the public was also present. The CCMC Commissioner has given an assurance that the garbage dump will be removed in the next 15 months. Accordingly, a report on the work undertaken by the Corporation to remove the garbage once in three months has to be submitted.
They have said that they will remove these garbage in a micro-compost system. The Corporation had promised to set up a total of 64 micro-fertilizer manufacturing units. Out of this, 34 micro-fertilizer manufacturing units have been set up. Of these, only 12 are operational. We have stipulated that the remaining central works should be completed within the next four weeks and the target of 64 should be completed at the earliest.
As per law, they should have completed these works, however, since this time was sought by the Corporation, we have given it to them. We have given them 15 months time to find a complete solution to the Vellalore garbage dump and I will personally monitor it.
We conducted an inspection at the micro-fertilizer manufacturing centre at Vadavalli in Coimbatore. The people of the area have protested against the functioning of a garbage-to-manure manufacturing centre in the area. The people were protesting due to the stench and health hazards. Therefore, we have instructed the Municipal Corporation to transport garbage with proper protection to the micro-compost manufacturing centre.
People's cooperation for such projects is very important. There will be no damage to the micro-fertilizer manufacturing facility. I have also instructed students to create awareness on garbage segregation and keeping the surroundings clean. Also, since it is reported that the locals in Vellalore have been affected by the garbage dump, pediatricians and oncologists have conducted tests on the general public there," emphasised the Chairman of the Monitoring Committee of the National Green Tribunal, Justice Dr. P Jothimani.