The southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to file a report on action taken in coordinating with pollution control boards in Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the issue of garbage dumping near border areas.
While hearing a suo moto case based on a news report by The Hindu on the dumping of garbage near Anamalai and places bordering Kerala, the Bench remarked that, as per a recent news report, more than 10 tonnes of municipal solid waste were dumped in Ilayarkulam junction, Nanguneri-Moolakaraipatti road, and Shenbagaramanallur road in Nanguneri town of Tirunelveli, despite an eight-member special monitoring committee formed to monitor waste dumped in Tirunelveli. It was indicated that the recent piles of waste were from Thiruvananthapuram.
“Even in the earlier orders, we had directed both the TNPCB and Kerala SPCB to coordinate and address the issue of dumping in the border areas and directed the Central Pollution Control Board to coordinate in this regard,” the Bench said.
To this, the counsel appearing for CPCB informed that Kerala had not responded to the meeting. Noting that the Kerala Pollution Control Board has neither responded to the NGT nor the meeting, the Bench asked the CPCB to file a report on action taken in this regard. The case has been posted for a final hearing on November 2.
