KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Thursday directed the Ernakulam Range Inspector General of Police to provide adequate protection to the Advocate Commission appointed to monitor Periyar river pollution. A division bench comprising Acting Chief justice Manjula Chellur and Justice P R Ramachandra Menon issued the directive after considering Commission’s report.Advocate Commission P A Jacob had submitted that the inspection drive at Eloor was obstructed by some 250 men, and the protection provided by three police men was not sufficient. The court appointed Advocate P A Jacob as the Advocate Commission to look into the issue of Periyar river pollution on a contempt of court petition filed by Green Action Force of Eloor.The Court has also directed the Pollution Control Board to collect samples from the river in the presence of the Commission. Samples should be collected from Panachithode, Kunthiathode and Kuzhikkandam creek, the tributary rivers of Periyar. The samples should be collected for a total of 60 days starting from August 16. The court on Thursday extended to two weeks time allotted to collect samples.Green Action Force argued that the Pollution Control Board did not comply with the High Court directive issued on April 12, 2005. The court had directed it to collect samples from Periyar to check the level of pollution in water and to pass them to National Environmental Engineering and Research Institute in Thiruvananthapuram for further tests.The petitioner contended that the samples were not collected as directed by the court, which prompted the NGO to file the petition.
Comments
0 comment