On Monday, Senior counsel TC Krishna, representing the Railways, told the Court that the sheer volume of plastic waste in the canal made it difficult to filter debris from water bodies in the tunnel.
Such waste had piled up due to the city corporation’s failure to curb unregulated dumping of plastic waste, the Railways’ counsel added.
A video of waste being dumped near the Veli railway station was also showed to the Court.
The Thiruvananthapuram Corporation’s counsel countered that the corporation had specifically requested the Railways to clear waste accumulated in the canal and on Railways property, via letters dated May 17 and June 19.
Special Government Pleader C Unnikrishnan, meanwhile, submitted that the Kerala government had convened a meeting with the Railways to highlight the need to review existing waste collection contracts and to prevent illegal dumping.
The Court also took note of submissions that the State had carried out an operation dubbed Operation Ananda between 2016 and 2020 to clear waste in the Amayizhanjan canal and prevent flooding in the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram.
The Court has said that the amicus appointed by it to assist in this case may interact with those who carried out this project, to find out measures to tackle the waste crisis.
The fee for the amicus’ services is to be jointly paid by the Railways, the Corporation authorities and the State government, the Court added.
Source: Barandbench
