Edayar industrial belt under PCB scanner

KOCHI: Though  complaints regarding the violation of various environmental rules at the Edayar-Eloor industrial belt here have been doing the rounds for many years, it took a fire breakout — which gutted two factories on January 20 this year — for the district pollution control board to finally sit up and take notice.

"The belt houses over 300 factories. The first thing a person notices as they walk over the Pathalam regulator- cum-bridge is a pungent smell,” said Manoj K, a local resident.

According to an official with the PCB, the investigation into the fire that broke out in January had brought to light the many violations being committed by the factories in the belt. “The area is tightly packed with factories, several of which use products that are not approved under environmental laws,” the official said, adding that many were also illegally storing highly inflammable substances.

“So, the PCB will serve a notice to the factories directing them to rectify the violations within a week or face severe action,” said the official. Towards this purpose, a team from the PCB held a meeting with the factory owners at Edayar on Wednesday.

Corp fails to pay Rs 14.92-crore fine

The Kochi Corporation, which often tends to be complacent when it comes to environmental norms and related penalties, might soon land in trouble because of this track record. In the latest such instance, the corporation has now failed to comply with an order issued by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), directing it to pay a fine of Rs 14.92 crore for violating the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules, 2016, within the stipulated period.

“We had given the corporation 15 days to pay up, but to no avail. This is not the first time this has happened. Now, PCB will take legal action against the civic body,” said an official with the PCB. The compensation was sought after assessing the corporation’s violations from November 22, 2018 to December 31, 2020.