Madurai: More than 50 officials from Kerala arrived in Tirunelveli district with 16 trucks on Sunday and began clearing biomedical waste dumped in various places. Tamil Nadu police and revenue teams escorted trucks loaded with waste till border village Puliyarai in Tenkasi district. The clearing operation will continue on Monday
The biomedical waste from Kerala had been dumped in six villages Kondanagaram, Nadukallur, Seethaparpanallur, Arinayagipuram, Palavoor, and Kodaganallur in Tirunelveli district. Police have registered separate cases, arrested five people and seized a truck used in dumping of waste.
National Green Tribunal took up the matter suo motu and ordered Kerala govt to remove the illegally dumped waste.
On Sunday, Kerala officials led by Thiruvananthapuram assistant collector Sakshi Mohan reached Tirunelveli and began the clearing operation. Tamil Nadu officials led by Cheranmahadevi sub-collector Arpit Jain and Tirunelveli assistant collector Ambica Jain coordinated with the Kerala teams. The earthmovers and two more trucks were arranged locally.
Kerala official Sakshi Mohan told reporters that three agencies Thiruvananthapuram corporation, Clean Kerala, and Kerala pollution control board are involved in the clearing work. “Biomedical waste would be removed completely from all six locations,” she said.
Later in the day, Tirunelveli collector K P Karthikeyan told reporters that five to six truckloads of medical waste were yet to be cleared.
