Special enforcement teams to prevent pollution of Ashtamudi lake in Kerala

The Kollam district administration has formed special enforcement teams in collaboration with local self-governments to find waste management violations, a serious issue endangering the ecosystem of Ashtamudi Lake.

The squad will take action against violations including poor waste treatment, uncontrolled garbage dumping and the storage and sale of banned plastic products.

Meanwhile, local self-governments and the district administration’s fragile efforts were exposed when the principal bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), New Delhi, fined Kerala government Rs 10 crore for failing to stop indiscriminate pollution at the Ramsar sites of Vembanad and Ashtamudi lakes, said John C Mathew, environment programme manager at the Directorate of Environment and Climate Change.

‘’The NGT’s order clearly shows that the areas surrounding the Ashtamudi and Vembanad lakes have an extremely poor waste management system. Our local governments and district administration have struggled to put in place an effective waste management system. It is obvious that untreated garbage from hospitals and homes is dumped directly into the lake. Furthermore, the district administration has not taken any concerted measures to prevent the dumping of untreated garbage into lakes,” John told TNIE.

John said the district administration and the state government haven’t done anything to protect the Ashtamudi and Vembanad lakes other than occasionally holding seminars. “The state government will occasionally hold seminars about safeguarding Ashtamudi and other Ramsar sites. Rarely do officials visit these places. Despite spending huge amounts of money on seminars and research works, none of these has ever been implemented,” says Rahul I V, a lawyer and environmental activist.