The Kerala State Pollution Control Board (PCB) has served notices on over 200 apartment complexes located close to Edappally and Thevara-Perandoor canals and the Vembanad Lake on charge of illegal discharge of untreated wastewater and failure to comply with norms prescribed under the provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act.
The notices were issued as part of the directives issued by the National Green Tribunal in the cases pertaining to the indiscriminate pollution of Edappally, Thevara-Perandoor canals and the Vembanad Lake. As many as 225 apartment complexes had received notices for various lapses as on December 2024, according to official sources.
Inspections had revealed that only 15 apartments had obtained the mandatory consent to operate issued by the Board as per Section 25 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act. The consent has to be renewed every five years. It is issued only after ensuring that waste generators comply with norms related to treatment of wastewater. Notices were issued in cases related to the illegal discharge of untreated wastewater into waterbodies as per Section 24 of the Water Act that prohibited disposal of pollutants into streams or wells.
The Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal in New Delhi had slapped a penalty of ₹10 crore on the Kerala government in March 2023 for its failure to check the indiscriminate pollution of Vembanad and Ashtamudi lakes, listed as Ramsar sites. In August 2024, the Southern Bench of the tribunal in Chennai had expressed dissatisfaction over the inordinate delay in taking remedial measures against the pollution of Edappally and Perandoor canals owing to unauthorised discharge of sewage into the waterbodies.
Published - January 22, 2025 08:02 pm IST
