National Green Tribunal fixes terms for Nitta Gelatin

KOCHI: The National Green Tribunal has directed the Kerala State Pollution Control Board to conduct every three months an audit of the ecological damage, if any, caused by the Nitta Gelatin plant at Kathukudam near Chalakkudy  and submit a report to the tribunal. The NGT division bench comprising Sasidharan Nambiar and P.S. Rao on Monday  also stipulated 24 conditions for its functioning, a joint venture between a Japanese company and Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation. The order was issued on a petition alleging that the plant was causing severe pollution to the Chalakudy river.

The bench  also directed the company to remove the wastes piled up within six months.  It also ordered the company to retrieve the pipe allegedly buried deep in the river. A number  of activists and people in the Kathikudam area have been campaigning against the company for  long. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in November last year had  submitted a report about the pollution to the NGT. It cited the serious lapses by the company and submitted 20 recommendations for mitigating pollution in the region. A people’s action council in the area has been demanding the closure of the company in view of the findings of the CPCB. The agitation  gained nationwide attention with Maoist activists vandalising the corporate office building of the company in Kochi in 2014.