Coimbatore: The Kurichi-Vellalore Pollution Prevention Action Committee has urged the chairman of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) not to approve the Coimbatore corporation’s move to set up a waste-to-energy plant at Vellalore dump yard.In an objection letter to TNPCB chairman, committee secretary K S Mohan stated that the Vellalore dump yard had already caused severe environmental degradation, including air pollution, groundwater contamination and unbearable odour affecting people within a radius of more than 10 km. “Despite binding judicial directions, the situation continues to deteriorate,” he stated. According to him, the proposal to establish a waste-to-energy (WtE) plant at the same site is premature and illegal. “It a violation of the Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016,” he stated.Mohan has said to TOI that legacy waste has not been fully cleared through bio-mining, which is a mandatory precondition before executing any project in the same site. “The WtE plant is not a successful model and poses a severe public health risk by emitting toxic pollutants such as dioxins and furans, which will endanger lakhs of residents. So, we want an immediate halt to all approvals, tenders and implementation processes related to the WtE project. Also, TNPCB should reject the consent to establish, environmental clearance and all statutory approvals.”As per the objection letter, the representation was made in protection of the fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, which includes the right to a clean and healthy environment.
