Report filed by the KSPCB on the dumping yard of Ottapalam municipality, Palakkad district, Kerala, 30/12/2020
Report filed by the Environmental Engineer, Kerala State Pollution Control Board in compliance to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order of November 27, 2020 in the matter of K M Sanjeev Vijayan Vs State of Kerala.
The matter related to the dumping yard of Ottapalam Municipality located in Panamanna ward, not complying with environmental laws and being a source of pollution. Further, solid waste was not properly collected from the Panamanna ward and other wards leading to burning or dumping of waste by waste generators.
The KSPCB officials conducted inspection and found several litter spots on the side of the main road passing through the municipality. Plastic carry bags containing solid waste, un-segregated with wet and dry waste materials were found dumped in and around these litter spots.
The processing plant of the municipality at Panamanna was inspected and it was found that there was no functional wet waste processing facility. The machinery for composting, segregation were not functional. There was a legacy waste dump adjacent to the processing plant and the municipality had not done scientific quantification of the legacy waste yet and it was spread over an area of approximate 2 acres.
There was also a seasonal drain flowing near the processing plant and legacy waste site.
Note: The KSPCB report of December 30, 2020 was uploaded to the NGT site on February 16, 2021.