Four lorries were seized and seven persons from Kerala arrested for dumping biomedical waste in a farm in Pollachi.
Acting on a tip-off from Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (PDK) cadres, police has unearthed a disturbing trend of medical waste being sold to unsuspecting farmers as ‘manure’.
According to reliable sources, several loads of biomedical waste from the neighbouring state have been regularly sent to remote farmlands in Coimbatore district and some farmers had even allegedly paid for taking the hospital waste. “Since we received a tip-off this time, we could nab the accused and alert the police,” the PDK cadres said.
The load dumped in the farm at Chemmanampathi village, close the interstate border, contained blood-stained cotton dressing, post-mortem waste, needles, empty glucose bottles and even liquor bottles.
On hearing about the dumping of this waste, PDK cadres, green activists and some villagers gathered at the spot and caught the lorries in the act.
Following the protest, Anamalai police station seized the vehicles and arrested seven persons – Rajeesh (28), Saju (25), Biphin (34), Suresh (35), Karuppusamy (40), Mohan (40) and Easwaran (50).
Of these, Karuppusamy and Easwaran are from Pollachi and are suspected to be brokers in the deal.
The police said the consignment was shipped from a Trissur-based firm and sent to Pollachi as compost.
“We are probing the possibility of the involvement of brokers who could arrange for the shipping of the waste as the lorries were not inspected at the two check-posts on the border,” they said.
The PDK cadres and locals claimed that brokers played a key role in bringing medical waste from Kerala.
“The brokers in Pollachi convince the farmers that this hospital waste was the best manure for agricultural land and dump it on the farmland, often without the knowledge of the land-owners,” said Mr Ka.Su. Nakarasan, PDK district secretary (south Pollachi).
He said the dumping of medical waste has been a regular practice since 2004. We have caught more than 10 trucks carrying medical waste, Mr Nakarasan said.
Coimbatore rural SP E.S. Uma told DC that the police had approached the pollution control board to inspect the site and compile a detailed report. “Since it is a major environmental issue, we will take appropriate action,” she said.
Collector M. Karunakaran said awareness programmes would be conducted among the farmers in Pollachi to educate them of the hazards of dumping biomedical waste in their farms.
“We are also convening a meeting of high-level officials to prevent such practices,” Mr Karunakaran added.