The National Green Tribunal’s southern bench has directed Avadi Corporation to implement an action plan preventing solid waste and other contaminating material from spilling into the Cooum river or onto adjoining land, after finding the civic body’s waste management system “inefficient and inadequate”.
The order concerns the corporation’s garbage yard and micro composting facilities at Sekkadu village, located on the Cooum river bank. The case involved allegations of improper solid waste disposal, waste spilling into the river through rundown compound walls and the burning of garbage at the site.
The tribunal also directed the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to assess and levy environmental compensation on Avadi Corporation for past violations in solid waste management. The pollution control board has further been asked to assess the existing micro composting centres and the garbage yard at Sekkadu.
The bench of judicial member Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana and expert member Prashant Gargava said the corporation must obtain the requisite authorisation from TNPCB to establish and operate its solid waste management and disposal facilities, if it had not already done so.
The tribunal ordered that if the Sekkadu facility is found to be unsuitable or is operating without valid consent, further processing or dumping of waste at the site must stop. It also directed that accumulated waste be removed and processed scientifically at an appropriate authorised facility.
The directions place responsibility on both the municipal corporation and the pollution control authority. Avadi Corporation must prevent further contamination and address conditions at the waste facility, while TNPCB must determine whether environmental compensation is payable and whether the site has the necessary regulatory approvals.
In a report submitted to the tribunal on August 29, the corporation said the area was under CCTV surveillance and that a compound wall was being constructed along the yard at a cost of ₹99.5 lakh. The tribunal’s directions specifically follow concerns that the existing boundary infrastructure had allowed waste to spill towards the Cooum.
The order also links the condition of a municipal waste facility to the wider protection of the river and its adjoining land. For residents and other users of the riverbank area, the immediate issue is whether waste dumping, burning and runoff from the Sekkadu yard will stop and whether accumulated waste will be shifted to an authorised facility.
The next steps identified by the tribunal are the implementation of Avadi Corporation’s action plan, verification of the yard and composting centres by TNPCB, assessment of environmental compensation and scientific processing or removal of accumulated waste if the existing facility is found unsuitable or unauthorised.
