NGT tells GCC, fisheries dept to clean North Chennai beaches

Chennai: The southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered the formation of a joint committee comprising Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) and state fisheries department to remove ‘garbage islands' from the east coast beaches from Kasimedu till Ennore."The main concern is thermocol and other waste, which are disposed of at various points along rivers Adyar and Cooum. To avoid the above, it was earlier suggested to install booms/skimmers to collect floating thermocol and other solid waste from packaging sources," said the bench comprising Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana and expert member Prashant Gargava. They were passing an interim order on a suo motu plea initiated based on a newspaper report on the issue.While the suo motu petition was pending, on April 24, another newspaper report highlighted that stagnation of waste again created a garbage island, which would not only be detrimental to human health but also marine organisms, the tribunal said.Pointing out that the annual fishing ban is already in force, the bench said: "Though the ban is aimed at improving the fishing stock, it can be made use of for cleaning up the fishing harbour, removing the debris that are collected while the fishermen normally maintain their boats and overhaul the same."Though 15 days of the ban period had passed, there are more than 45 days available for the authorities to plunge into action in cleaning this harbour, which is a primary concern and also an eyesore, the tribunal said.The bench then directed the constitution of a joint committee headed by the GCC commissioner, comprising director, fisheries and fishermen welfare department, chairperson, Chennai Port Trust authority, and manager, Kasimedu Fishing Harbour, to make use of the ban period to clean the fishing harbour by involving the fishermen also.