V. Prabhakaran and his team’s decade-long struggle against the Corporation to end garbage dumping on the banks of the Cooum river in Nolambur ended last month, with the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) Southern Bench issuing an order, restraining the civic agency from continuing the practice.
The Bench, comprising Justice M. Chockalingam and expert member R. Nagendran, passed the order based on a petition filed by Prabhakaran.
To get this judgment hasn’t been easy for this civic crusader as his efforts were repeatedly put down by the authorities concerned. “I was determined to end the suffering of hundreds of residents who live near the river,” said Prabhakaran, who is a social activist in the neighbourhood.
Prabhakaran served as the president of the Nolambur village panchayat before it was merged to form the Ambattur municipality some three decades ago. Since then, he has been involved in many public activities such as getting parks, good roads and government healthcare centres for the neighbourhood.
Over the years, population increases have led to increased garbage generation. At present, the dumping yard at Athipet Ambattur Industrial Estate is the lone facility of its kind dump yard which handles nearly 30 tons of garbage. The banks of Cooum were used as a secondary collection point before it was transported to Athipet. Sometimes, miscreants would set fire to the garbage to separate iron scrap from the wastages. This polluted the neighbourhood and caused health concerns. “In my fight I was supported by residents in various ways including passing resolutions at the regular meetings organised by resident welfare associations,” Prabhakaran said.
Protests, street corner meetings, distribution of pamphlets and meeting elected representatives were some of the measures taken. Residents led by Prabhakaran also met officials of the civic body and other government officials. “After our failure in convincing the civic authorities through various ways, we approached NGT,” Prabhakaran said.
