In a statement issued by Samuga Pothunala Iyakkam (TNSPI) General Secretary A.S. Sankarapandian, he said:
A private company has proposed to establish a common biomedical waste treatment plant at a cost of Rs. 7 crore on about 15 acres in Kallai village near Kulithalai in Karur district. The area selected for the plant is wet agricultural land where paddy and vegetables are cultivated. In this area, where people have depended on agriculture for their livelihood for generations, the establishment of the proposed hazardous plant could affect the entire area and place their lives and livelihoods in question.
Biomedical waste will be burned through an incinerator, and the smoke, ash, dioxins, furans and other toxic substances released from it may create risks of respiratory diseases, allergies, cancer and kidney damage. People in various parts of Tamil Nadu are already being affected by similar plants. A similar situation could arise for the people of Kallai. If wastewater discharged from the plant is not treated, it could mix with groundwater and affect agriculture and the health of local residents.
As medical waste would be brought to this location from various districts, traffic on village roads could increase, and people from all sections could be affected by odour and health problems. Used hospital needles, blood-contaminated materials, body parts, expired medicines and various other wastes can cause infectious diseases and affect the environment if dumped in the open. Such plants are used to dispose of these wastes.
It is safer to locate such plants in industrial parks or places where people do not live. However, the site selected for the proposed plant in Kallai has houses and approved residential plots. As it is also an agricultural area, there is a risk that the treatment plant could pollute soil, water and air. Under the Biomedical Waste Management Rules, 2016 implemented by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, there should be a 500-metre distance between the plant site and residences. Here, that requirement is not met, and the attempt to establish the plant contrary to safety rules creates a high possibility of adverse impacts.
A public hearing was held in the area last week, and village residents strongly opposed implementing the project there. The plant management is reportedly attempting to establish the biomedical waste treatment plant in the area in violation of the law, with only six of the 45 documents required for implementing the project. The government should stop this project, which is planned contrary to regulations prohibiting such plants in residential and sensitive areas, and protect the area, people, groundwater, agriculture and livelihoods from harm.
Headquarters,
Samuga Pothunala Iyakkam.
