Soil topping of garbage on elephant corridor in Coimbatore alarms environmentalists
Evironmentalists cry foul over topping trash in the yard with soil. The idea would sound the death knell for the environment and wildlife
Work to cover the garbage with soil under way (file)
COIMBATORE: Environmentalists have expressed strong concern over the move to top existing garbage with soil in the dump yard on the transit pathway of wild elephants at Somayampalayam, on the foothills of Marudhamalai in Coimbatore.
Nature enthusiasts observed the idea would sound death knell for the environment and wildlife. Though relieved that the yard had been closed, nature enthusiasts stressed permanent solutions, citing the danger posed by the non-degradable plastics buried beneath the soil for decades.
“We demand that garbage accumulated on the site over the last five years be completely removed instead of burying it beneath the soil. The plastics will remain there forever causing irreparable damage to the environment. The stench from the trash during rains may attract wild animals from the nearby forests, posing a threat to wildlife,” said V Shanmugasundaram, the secretary of Coimbatore Wildlife Conservation Trust (CWCT).
Over time, uncleaned garbage may pollute the water flowing down the hills and take its natural course to drain into Perur Tank and Nagarajapuram Tank, he added.
“Garbage gathered from households in Somayampalayam Panchayat, ranging from 5 to 11 tonnes, had been dumped daily at the site over the last five years. The impact of the dump yard waste and the extent of pollution of the groundwater table requires a detailed study,” said M Sirajdeen, co-ordinator, of Wildlife and Nature Conservation Trust.
The presence of a dump yard has led to a surge in the incidents of elephant intrusions, in search of food, in residential areas in Marudhamalai surroundings, as the animals got used to consuming leftovers in the yard.
Until a few years ago, the elephants that passed through this way from Thadagam stopped at ‘yaanai maduvu’ near Onapalayam in Thondamuthur. Once the yard came up, the elephants began to stray at this place to scavenge waste and also picked up the habit of damaging houses in search of food.
A video grab of elephants rummaging through garbage at night
The risks that garbage dumping poses to wildlife have come to light following the death of a mother elephant, possibly due to complications developed from consuming plastics. A post-mortem examination carried out on the carcass of the female elephant, that died despite four days of treatment, revealed that it had plastic in its intestine.
Environmentalists claimed that they had spotted the mother elephant rummaging through the garbage for food at the dump yard. A week ago, the elephant found motionless along with its calf near Marudhamalai foothills, suddenly collapsed. Attempts to revive the elephant by administering medicine stuffed inside fruits, fodder, and water, and efforts to help the elephant stand up with the help of a crane turned futile.
Following this, the authorities took war footing efforts to stop garbage dumping at the yard and decided to top the existing garbage with soil. Further, the site will be fenced and a trench will be dug out to prevent elephant intrusions in the coming days. “The entire work may get over in a month if there are no hurdles like rain. A forest department team has also been deployed to monitor and prevent elephant intrusions,” said an official of the forest department.
Meanwhile, Coimbatore District Collector Pavankumar G Giriyappanavar said that garbage topped with soil will be destroyed with the bio-mining method, and saplings will be planted at the site.
