Try living near dumpyard: Madras High Court

Chennai: “If he (Chennai Corporation Commissioner) sits near Kodungaiyur dumpyard, he will come to know the difficulties faced by the public. If he requires we will arrange a residence near it.” This stinging remark from the Madras high court on Wednesday was directed at the Chennai Corporation Commissioner on a petition from a hapless citizen organisation choking from the stench of the Kodungaiyur landfill.

The court tore into the Chennai Corporation for its failure to remove its garbage dumping yard in Kodungaiyur located close to a residential area for the past 14 years and asked the civic body to submit a report within three weeks of the entire list of non-compliances along with the time period within which they are to be complied with.

“If the Chennai Corporation Commissioner needs a place near the dump yard, a shed can be provided and unless otherwise a chair is provided for him to sit near a dump yard he will not come to know what is the difficulty,” the first bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice R Mahadevan made the oral observation while hearing a batch of three similar PILs filed from 2002.

The organisation and a few other individuals have been fighting against the dumpyard for the past 14 years and the successive administrations in the Chennai Corporation have only turned a blind eye.

“Whether he will be able to sit near dump yard for 24 hours? If he sits near Kodungaiyur dumpyard, he will come to know the difficulties faced by public. If he requires we will arrange a residence near by it,” the bench asked.

In a PIL, the petitioner, Ezhil Nagar Welfare Association, Ezhil Nagar, Kodungaiyur sought direction to the authorities of Corporation of Chennai from interfering with the peaceful possession and enjoyment in respect of their property in Ezhil Nagar, including by putting up a compound wall or any construction or dumping garbage thereon.

They feared facing undue hardship and difficulties in case the authorities were not restrained. On perusing a report filed by Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, the bench said the report is a reflection on the “complete carelessness” of the Corporation in complying with the environmental norms. “A life sentence of 14 years is not enough for them to do the needful and that is the period, which has elapsed since the earlier petition was filed,” the Bench said.

Now an endeavour is made to hide behind 2016 rules which is impermissible, as the time period envisaged under those rules would be only for the new establishments or for new norms which have been introduced but it would not obliterate the time period required to be met qua the norms under the old rules.

“We call upon the Corporation to give a chart of the entire list of non-compliances along with the time period within which they are to be complied with within three weeks, with advance copy to all parties and the advocate commissioner,” the Bench said.

Welcoming the court observation, a resident of Kodungaiyur said “the dumpyard and the 6000 MT of solid waste generated daily is killing Chennai” and hoped that the Corporation takes some steps towards it at least now.