TNPCB may not issue certificate to Pisanathur plant, says Durai Vaiko

Tiruchi Member of Parliament Durai Vaiko on Sunday said that Minister for Finance, Environment and Climate Change Thangam Thennarasu had assured him that the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) would not accord consent to establish (CTE) to the proposed common biomedical waste treatment plant at Pisanathur near Gandharvakottai in Pudukottai district.

Mr. Durai Vaiko told The Hindu that he met the Minister in Chennai on Sunday and expressed the apprehensions of the villagers, who had been staging a sit-in protest over the past one month against the setting up of the plant. He conveyed the apprehensions of the people to the Minister that the plant would cause air and water pollution in the locality.

The proposed facility by a private firm was meant to process bio-medical waste from eight districts. Although it was established with the good objective of safely disposing medical waste, he told the Minister that it was unfortunate that it was planned to be located in a thickly populated place surrounded by agricultural fields and water sources. There were apprehensions that incineration of the waste at the unit could pollute the environment in a 30-km radius.

Mr. Durai Vaiko said he had told Mr. Thennarasu that though it was assured that an effluent treatment plant and continuous emission monitoring system would be established, shortcomings in maintenance or equipment failures could still cause pollution and affect the people’s health. Hence, it was essential that an alternative site in a sparsely populated area was identified for locating the unit.

After listening to him, Mr. Thennarasu said that a consent to establish (CTE) permit from the TNPCB was necessary to establish the plant. Similarly, after completion of it, a consent to operate (CTO) was necessary to start the operation. The CTE would be denied, Mr. Durai Vaiko said and added that the assurance meant that it would not be possible for establishing the biomedical waste treatment plant.

“I consider this a great victory for the unity and moral struggle of the protesters. On behalf of them I express gratitude to the State government and Mr. Thangam Thennarasu for the intervention. I hope the plant will not be set up at the proposed site,” the MP said.