Tweet
The unity and determination shown by the people of Vilappilsala village near Thiruvananthapuram, in encountering a police force on Monday, defeated the State Government’s plans to resume dumping of wastes from the city in their village, a huge part of which had already become a garbage mountain due to dumping for the past 11 years.
Faced with the stiff protests from tens of thousands of people, a police force of hundreds of personnel in full riot gear - armed with batons, teargas, grenades and rifles - was forced to withdraw from the scene after six hours of standoff. The authorities were also forced to withdraw the two waste-laden trucks they had brought to Vilappilsala for dumping.
However, the authorities have given enough indications that they would resume dumping of wastes at Vilappilsala with police assistance in the coming days. Thiruvananthapuram District Collector KN Satheesh imposed prohibitory orders on Vilappilsala for five days from Monday, which was a strategy to bring waste by “terrorizing the people”, according to the protestors.
Vilappilsala on Monday witnessed ruthless use of police force on agitating women, children, aged people and even the physically disabled who had been sitting in a dharna on the road to prevent garbage-laden trucks from entering Vilappilsala for dumping in the waste management facility there, which had been causing indescribable health problems to the villagers.
As thousands from the Vilappilsala Panchayat area and the neighbouring places resolutely blocked the roads into the dumping yard, the police started arresting the agitators using force. As tension built up following the people’s bid to resist arrest, the police resorted to lathi-charge and bursting of teargas shells.
The police arrested hundreds of women, including Vilappilsala Panchayat president Sobhanakumari, but vehicles carrying them to the police stations could not move out of the area as protestors blocked all the roads leading out of the village. The use of force on women and children also caused some violent reactions from the protestors leading to tension.
Convinced that use of force was not going to break the will of the protestors, the police authorities announced their decision for temporary withdrawal of the personnel but they made it clear that the garbage trucks would come back to Vilappilsala later under the protective cover of the prohibitory orders.
The standoff had started at about 7.00 am Monday as Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Mayor K Chandrika had announced in advance the resumption of dumping of wastes from the city in Vilappilsala with police help on the basis of a High Court order that directed the Government to provide police security for waste transportation.
With garbage accumulating on the streets, Thiruvananthapuram city had been undergoing a crisis of hygiene since December 20, the day the Vilappilsala Grama Panchayat unilaterally closed down the dumping yard in the village after being fed up with the Government’s repeated refusal to fulfill its promise to arrange alternate facilities for waste management.
Several rounds of discussions the Government had held with the Vilappilsala Panchayat and the People’s Agitation Council (on garbage issue) had failed to yield any results. In between, the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation earned a High Court verdict that the Government should provide police security for transporting city garbage to the Vilappilsala management facility.
Even when the Kerala Government talking about ambitious projects like the Rs 5,000-crore Kochi Metro Rail and the Rs 118,000-crore High-Speed Rail Corridor, a minimum of five cities in the State are yet to find solution to the simple issue of managing their wastes, which are presently being dumped in the nearby villages leading to health and social crises there.
Faced with the stiff protests from tens of thousands of people, a police force of hundreds of personnel in full riot gear - armed with batons, teargas, grenades and rifles - was forced to withdraw from the scene after six hours of standoff. The authorities were also forced to withdraw the two waste-laden trucks they had brought to Vilappilsala for dumping.
However, the authorities have given enough indications that they would resume dumping of wastes at Vilappilsala with police assistance in the coming days. Thiruvananthapuram District Collector KN Satheesh imposed prohibitory orders on Vilappilsala for five days from Monday, which was a strategy to bring waste by “terrorizing the people”, according to the protestors.
Vilappilsala on Monday witnessed ruthless use of police force on agitating women, children, aged people and even the physically disabled who had been sitting in a dharna on the road to prevent garbage-laden trucks from entering Vilappilsala for dumping in the waste management facility there, which had been causing indescribable health problems to the villagers.
As thousands from the Vilappilsala Panchayat area and the neighbouring places resolutely blocked the roads into the dumping yard, the police started arresting the agitators using force. As tension built up following the people’s bid to resist arrest, the police resorted to lathi-charge and bursting of teargas shells.
The police arrested hundreds of women, including Vilappilsala Panchayat president Sobhanakumari, but vehicles carrying them to the police stations could not move out of the area as protestors blocked all the roads leading out of the village. The use of force on women and children also caused some violent reactions from the protestors leading to tension.
Convinced that use of force was not going to break the will of the protestors, the police authorities announced their decision for temporary withdrawal of the personnel but they made it clear that the garbage trucks would come back to Vilappilsala later under the protective cover of the prohibitory orders.
The standoff had started at about 7.00 am Monday as Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Mayor K Chandrika had announced in advance the resumption of dumping of wastes from the city in Vilappilsala with police help on the basis of a High Court order that directed the Government to provide police security for waste transportation.
With garbage accumulating on the streets, Thiruvananthapuram city had been undergoing a crisis of hygiene since December 20, the day the Vilappilsala Grama Panchayat unilaterally closed down the dumping yard in the village after being fed up with the Government’s repeated refusal to fulfill its promise to arrange alternate facilities for waste management.
Several rounds of discussions the Government had held with the Vilappilsala Panchayat and the People’s Agitation Council (on garbage issue) had failed to yield any results. In between, the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation earned a High Court verdict that the Government should provide police security for transporting city garbage to the Vilappilsala management facility.
Even when the Kerala Government talking about ambitious projects like the Rs 5,000-crore Kochi Metro Rail and the Rs 118,000-crore High-Speed Rail Corridor, a minimum of five cities in the State are yet to find solution to the simple issue of managing their wastes, which are presently being dumped in the nearby villages leading to health and social crises there.
