Chennai: The Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered the Kerala government to clear biomedical waste illegally dumped in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu within three days. The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has also written to its Kerala counterpart, demanding action against the hospitals responsible for dumping.
Recently, hazardous medical waste from the Thiruvananthapuram Regional Cancer Centre in Kerala was found dumped in the Kodaganallur and Nadukkallur areas of Tirunelveli. The Tamil Nadu police have registered a case and are investigating the matter. Political parties have strongly condemned the dumping of Kerala’s medical waste in Tamil Nadu.
During a hearing on a related case in the NGT’s Chennai bench, the Tamil Nadu government brought the biomedical waste issue to the tribunal's attention.
The tribunal’s judicial member, Pushpa Sathyanarayan, and expert member, Sathyagopal, expressed strong disapproval of the dumping of Kerala’s medical waste in Tamil Nadu, questioning why Kerala had granted licenses to hospitals without ensuring proper facilities for the disposal of medical waste.
The NGT has directed the Kerala government to take responsibility for clearing the medical waste dumped in Tirunelveli within three days and ordered that the waste be either returned to Kerala or handed over to a waste management agency in Tirunelveli.
In a letter to the Kerala Pollution Control Board (PCB), the TNPCB has demanded action against the Regional Cancer Centre, Credence Hospital, and Leela Hotels Kovalam, believed to be the sources of the waste.
Waste Dumping Continues
The dumping of medical waste in southern Tamil Nadu has been a recurring issue. Residents of Kanniyakumari, Tenkasi, and Tirunelveli have repeatedly complained about the illegal disposal of medical waste, particularly from Kerala. These incidents have sparked public outrage and raised concerns about environmental pollution and public health.
BJP state president Annamalai criticised the DMK government for allowing Tamil Nadu to become a dumping ground for Kerala's waste. He accused the state government of prioritising the interests of its alliance partner, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which governs Kerala and threatened to transport the waste back to Kerala if the issue is not resolved.
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