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Hellish Kochchikade dump blights city
View(s):Public dismay has reached boiling point in Kochchikade as a result of a hellish landscape that is a stinking garbage dump created by the Negombo Municipal Council as a landfill about 20 years ago.
A health hazzard: The garbage dump
The dump took shape on a private land on the request of the land owner to fill a pit dug for clay.
“We want a fair solution to this problem that has existed for 20 years. The Negombo Municipal Council collects waste separated by people and dumps on this site, rather than disposing of it properly,’’ says Rev Father Tony Pinto, the Parish Priest of Pallansena, Kochchikade.
“Why can’t the authorities use modern technology used in other countries and re-cycle the waste and make compost? Even I have made compost in the backyard of my mission house.’’
He says health-related problems have increased over the years.
“Many people complain of lung-related sicknesses. On some days, we can’t even say the Holy Mass as we are disturbed by flies and the odour. I suggest that it be removed from here to a distant place and let these innocent people live a peaceful life,’’ he says.
Vipul de Costa, the secretary of the Parisara Surakime Kamituwa, Kochchikade, Pallansena says residents have been agitating for about 20 years. “We have filed cases in court from time to time and have spent about one million rupees on our own to pay the lawyers.’’
“Even the former Parish Priest of Pallansena Rev Fr Jayantha Nimal stood by us in our struggle against this health hazard. It has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes and diseases.’’
The Maha Oya river flows nearby, he says, noting that most of the waste is washed into it and then to the sea through the estuary at Poruthota. “You can see piles of plastic bottles and other waste things washed ashore there.’’
The irony is that the waste is then collected by well-meaning groups who want to keep the beaches clean. That garbage then is sent again to the dump, he says.
Following an earlier case at the Negombo Magistrates’ Court, the magistrate had ordered the municipal authorities to dispose of the waste properly and cover it with layers of earth daily. The Negombo Municipal Council had agreed, but did not deliver on the promise to court.
Unlike a well-managed landfill, at the Owitiyawa dump, leachate, caused by the decomposing waste, creates an awful stench. It also seeps into the ground and flows into the river. Leachate is highly toxic and can contain high concentrations of ammonia and nitrogen. It is a threat to surface water and groundwater.
Pix and text by
K.L.Richard Walter Perera
Rev Father Tony Pinto and Vipul de Costa
Washed ashore: The waste from the dump