Kochi: Parking of large vehicles along a few major roads in Kochi city has been banned. District Collector N S K Umesh issued an order in this regard on Monday in a bid to stop people dumping waste along the roads under the cover of these vehicles.
Large vehicles, including container-tanker lorries, are banned from parking along Vallarpadom Container Terminal Road, Seaport-Airport Road, Irumpanam-Ambalamugal Road, and Kundannur-Kochi Harbour Road, according to the order.
Container-tanker lorries are parked along these roads for weeks. Municipal officials concerned had complained to the district collector that people had been dumping garbage, including plastic waste, on th roadside behind such parked vehicles. The collector has issued the ban order based on Sections 30 and 33 of the Disaster Management Act 2005.
The Kochi city police commissioner and secretaries of the Kochi corporation, Kalamassery, Eloor, Tripunithura, and Maradu municipalities and Mulavukad grama panchayat have been entrusted to ensure that the order is followed.
Heaps of garbage have piled up across the city in the past month following the massive fire incident at the Brahmapuram waste treatment plant. The Kochi Corporation, which runs the plant, has stopped transporting non-biodegradable waste from the city to the dumping yard at Brahmapuram in the outskirts following the fire breakout. The authorities are yet to implement a plan to clear the garbage piling up in the city.
