The Malampuzha Dam Protection Council has called upon the government to close down a hospital waste management plant run by Indian Medical Association Goes Eco-Friendly (IMAGE), an initiative of the Indian Medical Association, at Manthuruthy in Malampuzha. In a statement here on Monday, council secretary P.S. Panikkar raised concerns of the plant polluting the Malampuzha reservoir that supplied drinking water to Palakkad municipality and the adjoining six grama panchayats. He said it also posed a threat to the Korayar, a tributary of Bharathapuzha, a major source for drinking water for the people of Palakkad, Malappuram, and Thrissur districts. Dr. Panikkar alleged that effluents from the plant had affected paddy cultivation in 50 hectares. He said the plant, which is functioning since 2003, was causing air pollution and its licence had expired on June 30 this year. The council had filed a complaint against the functioning of the plant with the human rights commission, he said. Denying the charges, IMA sources claimed the plant “would not cause any water or air pollution”. The plant was set up as per the decision of the Central and State Pollution Control Boards to have a common biomedical waste disposal system. The Central Ministry of Environment had promulgated the Biomedical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998. The allegations raised by the Malampuzha Dam Protection Committee and other organisations that waste water from this plant was being let out and could reach the Malampuzha dam were contrary to facts, the IMA said.