Representative image of biomedical waste
Credit: DH File Photo
Chennai: Biomedical and plastic waste from two hospitals and other institutions in Kerala have been dumped at multiple locations in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district.
The waste, including medical records of patients, generated from the Regional Cancer Centre, Thiruvananthapuram and Credence Private Hospital, were dumped on Sunday night, leading to a massive row.
Waste from Kerala being dumped in many villages across the state border in Tamil Nadu in districts like Theni, Kanyakumari, Tenkasi, and Tirunelveli has been a recurring affair, despite land owners filing police complaints and taking objection to such a move.
The latest dumping of waste in Kodaganallur and Palavoor villages in Tirunelveli district has caught political attention with the state BJP threatening to launch a protest in the New Year by carrying the “waste” back to Kerala if no action was taken by the state government.
Locals said institutions from Kerala have started dumping heaps of waste, particularly biomedical waste without burning them in vacant lands. They suspect that lorries that come from Kerala to carry load from a near-by paper mill bring these waste and dump them in villages.
“This has become a nuisance. We keep complaining to authorities but no action has been taken so far. We expect the government to act against those responsible for dumping bio waste which is detrimental to people’s health,” a villager said.
In a statement, Annamalai accused Chief Minister M K Stalin of allowing Kanyakumari, Tenkasi and Tirunelveli, to be turned into a garbage dump for the “Communist government of Kerala.”
“While the DMK government enjoys ties with the Kerala government, our southern districts have been turned into a dumping ground for Kerala's biomedical, plastic and meat waste. The check posts that are supposed to stop such waste have become mere collection centres,” Annamalai alleged.
He also alleged that the government has not taken action despite repeated complaints to the authorities and the Chief Minister's Special Cell.
“The DMK government should immediately stop this. Otherwise, in the first week of January 2025, we will mobilise the public, load this biomedical waste and garbage into trucks and dump it in Kerala. I will be a passenger in the first truck,” he added.
Tirunelveli district collector K P Karthikeyan said a case was being registered against people who dumped medical waste in open land.