Local residents living in the vicinity of the Theetukkal dumpyard have complained that the Udhagamandalam Municipality (UMC) had failed to implement the orders of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in preventing leachate seeping into agriculture fields.
According to local residents, the dumpyard sprawls around 15 acre outside of Udhagamandalam town, and in 2018, the Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal passed orders directing the municipality to ensure that “neither Municipal Solid Waste nor any leachate” should be allowed to drain into any natural drains or water bodies in the area surrounding the dumpyard.
At the time, it was noted that the dumpyard has legacy waste amounting to 1.34 lakh tonnes. Over the years, the dumpyard has also attracted wild animals, but these instances have reduced over the years due to the construction of a compound wall around the area, local residents state.
