KOCHI: Yet another major law violation has come to the fore in the city. Posing serious health hazards to the people in Willingdon Island, West Kochi and Kochi city, thousands of litres of septic tank waste are being dumped on a small stretch between the Maradu toll plaza and the Alexander Parambithara bridge. The CISF at the Cochin Port Trust has so far seized 48 lorries carrying septic tank waste from this area. The CISF officials seized another lorry which dumped waste near the bridge on Tuesday night. In a rough estimate, about 2,88,000 litres of septic tank waste dumped in this area by 48 lorries were taken into custody by the CISF officials in 2010 and 2011. Of this, three lorries were seized for repeating the offence. As per rules, an amount of Rs 10,000 should be collected as fine from a lorry if found dumping waste illegally.If the vehicle is seized for the same offence again, an amount of Rs 50,000 should be collected. According to sources, the CISF has collected more than Rs 6 lakh from the lorries seized by CISF.“On Tuesday night, a CISF constable found a lorry dumping waste. Though he tried to stop the lorry workers, the four people escaped. The constable informed the patrol team which in turn chased the lorry and took the people into custody. Now two lorries have been seized for the same offence. One of theses has not paid the fine,” sources said.The lorries are currently parked near the Mattanchery Wharf in the Kochi Port area. “It’s the responsibility of the police to block vehicles dumping septic tank waste in open space. But CISF has been active with the task for some time now. Dumping of septic tank waste creates serious health hazards to people as it’s being dumped near the water bodies,” sources said.
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