TN continues to battle illegal dumping of medical waste from Kerala

Local bodies in Tamil Nadu villages bordering Kerala are struggling for funds to clear the illegal waste dumped in their backyard. Worryingly, a significant portion of it contains hazardous medical waste.

Mounds of illegal waste have been spotted in villages in Tirunelveli, Coimbatore, Kanyakumari, Tenkasi, and Theni districts. Some of the residents try to burn the waste at night. However, the cost of segregating the waste first before getting rid of it is also increasingly becoming extremely expensive for them.

The large-scale transfer of medical waste happens because segregation and treatment of such waste require facilities that Kerala does not have in adequate numbers. Neighbouring Tamil Nadu is better equipped, but the sheer volumes pose a challenge.

Segregation expenses

Speaking to The Federal, C Karthikeyan, secretary of the Malumichampatti village panchayat in Coimbatore, said they have had to spend a “huge amount of money” to segregate and clear the illegally dumped waste.

"The entire process is getting tougher by the day. When the waste is dumped along with construction debris, we have to segregate it first. The funds allotted for local bodies are used for regular works. They don't include the clearing of illegal waste,” he said. So, the village bodies are forced to plead with voluntary organisations for funds to clear the waste, he added.

Villagers are unhappy that the lorries carrying waste from Kerala are not being stopped altogether.

Recently, in Nanguneri town panchayat in Tirunelveli district, local body representatives roped in a private firm and cleared around 965 kg of waste, which included 20 kg of biomedical waste. It cost them nearly ₹70,000, and officials in the local body dashed off a letter to the Kerala government, asking it to pay the amount.

NGT intervention

In 2021, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) took suo motu notice of this issue and pulled up both states for not taking any action on this long-standing issue. In March, the NGT, which is conducting hearings on the issue, asked the two states to come up with an action plan.

According to sources, only 30 per cent of the total waste generated in Kerala is recycled, and the rest is dumped in various dumpsites in the state, while a sizable amount mixed with medical waste reaches Tamil Nadu.

Medical wastes like gloves, used syringes, needles, masks, plastic packaging, product packages, green and yellow bags containing bio-hazardous waste, sanitary napkins, pads with excreta, and blood-stained clothes are often mixed with the solid waste.

Flying squads

When contacted by The Federal, M Jayanthi, chairperson of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), said exclusive flying squads have been posted now in the border villages of Kerala and Tamil Nadu to prevent illegal dumping of wastes.

"As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, we have posted environmental engineers in five bordering districts, including Tirunelveli and Tenkasi. We have formed five exclusive flying squads and posted separate officers to act immediately on complaints related to illegal dumping from Kerala," she said.

Jayanthi added that the waste dumping hotspots in the border districts were also identified and in some cases, the dumped wastes were re-transported to Kerala.

On local bodies in Tamil Nadu struggling to fund the waste dumped by Kerala, she said: "In a couple of cases, we have asked Kerala authorities to pay up. But, we don’t have any authority to ask them do so.”

Another TNPCB official said that they have asked pollution control board officials in Kerala to insist hospitals use barcode bags meant for the disposal of biomedical waste. “Once the barcode is effectively in place, we can easily track the source, the hospital from where the waste has originated," said the officer.

Hand in glove

The officer also admitted that in some cases, villagers in Tamil Nadu act hand in glove with the contractors in Kerala to dump the waste in the neighbouring state under the cover of darkness.

When The Federal reached out to the Kerala Pollution Control Board, officials admitted that the practice of transporting solid waste across the border into Tamil Nadu is not a new development.

"It has been happening for the last 10 to 12 years," said PCB sources. "Trucks bringing goods to Kerala from Tamil Nadu often make extra money by hauling unsorted solid waste back on their return journey. They are able to sell the waste to dealers in Tamil Nadu," said an official.

According to the officials, some transport companies are authorised to transport solid waste to cement companies in Tamil Nadu, where it is used as fuel.

"Although these transporters are prohibited from carrying unsorted waste, they still do so and dump it on barren lands across the border using the authorisation document. There is no mechanism at the check posts to verify whether the load has segregated solid waste or not," said the official.

Dumping extends to Karnataka

The dumping game doesn’t end in Tamil Nadu. Now, the district authorities of Mysuru region in Karnataka are accusing Kerala of dumping medical waste in their villages as well, causing concern among residents.

Last year, office-bearers of the Mysuru Lorry Owners Association intercepted a Kerala lorry carrying medical waste meant for dumping in Mysuru and handed the lorry over to the police to prove this practice is going on.

Town municipalities in South Kanara (Karnataka bordering Kerala) complained that Kerala industrialists and hospitals are dumping waste and medical waste in their villages.

Meanwhile, Kerala too is accusing Karnataka of dumping waste in their state. Village panchayats including Manjeshwar, Sunkadakatte, and Udyavara are witnessing the dumping of medical waste from South Kanara (Karnataka) hospitals and medical industries, alleged a source. Many multi-specialty hospitals, nursing homes, and various clinics on the outskirts of Mangaluru, just a few kilometers from the Kerala border, are contributing to the waste problem.

Mute spectators

Environmentalist T Arul Selvam of the Community Environmental Monitoring (CEM) felt the Tamil Nadu government should insist on collecting waste handling charges from Kerala to dispose of the medical waste dumped in their state.

"As per the rules, no untreated biomedical waste shall be mixed with other waste. It needs to be segregated and filled into color-coded containers or bags at the point of generation in accordance with Schedule 1 of the Rules, prior to its storage, transportation, treatment, and disposal. But, we find huge loads of medical waste strewn on many roads and dumpsites of Tamil Nadu. With dumping from Kerala, many hospitals in Tamil Nadu also dump their medical waste in landfills without processing to reduce the heavy waste handling charges for medical waste," he said.

Selvam pointed out that along with officials, villagers in the bordering districts should actively participate in filing complaints.

"The government task force are mute spectators. A separate helpline should be provided by the pollution control board to receive complaints from villagers. Regular meetings in the villages along with environmental engineers from the pollution control board should be conducted to tackle the issue,” he said.

In his view, many hospitals, including ones backed by political bigwigs, want to avoid paying waste handling charges and take the easy route of dumping their medical waste along with the other waste. And make it someone else's problem.

(With inputs from Rajeev Ramachandran in Kochi and Naveen Ammembala in Bengaluru.)