NGT seeks new systems for debris removal along Kochi backwaters, coastline
The Southern Bench of the tribunal made the recommendation while considering the case pertaining to the impact of garbage pile-ups on the tourism potential of the Fort Kochi coastline.
An order dated June 20,2025 issued by Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana, Judicial Member, and Dr. Satyagopal Korlapati, Expert Member, stated that the Ernakulam District Collector and the Kochi Corporation had not yet filed their reports on garbage deposits along the Fort Kochi beach and its premises. The Bench has posted the matter for the next hearing on August 14, 2025.
Besides the Kerala State Pollution Control Board, the Kochi Corporation and the District Collector, the tribunal had included the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) as respondent in the case.
In a report dated March 17, 2025, the CPCB had informed the Bench that it was the responsibility of the Kerala State Pollution Control Board, the Kochi Corporation and the Ernakulam district administration to initiate necessary action against the garbage pile-up along the Fort Kochi beach in Ernakulam.
As per the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules, it is the duty of the local authorities to facilitate the construction, maintenance, and operation of solid waste processing facilities and associated infrastructure. Local bodies and panchayats were entrusted with the primary responsibility of collection and management of municipal solid waste, maintenance and operation of the solid waste processing sites and dumping yards, it said.
It is the duty of the State Urban Affairs department to ensure the implementation of provisions of the SWM rules by all the local authorities. The State pollution control boards are also entrusted with the responsibility of issuing authorisation to the local bodies after examining the proposals related to waste management, according to the report.
The Kochi Corporation had submitted a report before the State Pollution Control Board on March 14, 2025 stating that the waste pile-up along the beach had been removed.
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