Report sought on dumping of waste into Buckingham Canal

The Madras High Court directed the Mamallapuram town panchayat to file a detailed status report within a week explaining whether waste materials collected from the popular tourist town were being dumped into the Buckingham Canal.

The first bench consisting of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy issued the orders while hearing a plea moved Dhaneja Plot Owners’ Association.

The association sought direction to the State government to stop dumping waste into the canal near Mamallapuram. According to it, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has not taken any action against those polluting the Buckingham Canal, except merely sending a show-cause notice to the Mamallapuram town panchayat.

Recording the submissions, Chief Justice Bhandari said the TNPCB officials should have taken action after taking note of the illegalities.

“Why has the TNPCB not taken any action for several years even after serving a notice to the town panchayat,” the bench asked.

The court further directed the Mamallapuram town panchayat to file a detailed status report explaining whether the waste collected from Mamallapuram town, a very popular tourist destination visited by thousands every year, was being dumped into the Buckingham Canal.

During the hearing, the civic body informed the court that it has responded to the show-cause notice issued by the TNPCB. “As Mamallapuram is a place of tourism attraction, the town panchayat has also sought no-objection certificate from TNPCB to establish a dump yard,” the government submitted.

The matter has been adjourned by two weeks.