Fri Nov 15 16:21:02 UTC 2024: ## Pongupalayam Villagers to Demand Halt to Illegal Garbage Dumping
**TIRUPPUR, November 15, 2024** – Residents of Pongupalayam village, supported by environmental activists, will demand a halt to illegal garbage dumping in abandoned quarries during a Special Grama Sabha meeting on November 23rd. The meeting, originally scheduled for November 1st, has been postponed to coincide with Local Governance Day.
The villagers, backed by the Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Protection Movement, plan to pass a resolution using the village panchayat’s authority over health and pollution matters. Local ward members are reportedly in support of the resolution.
Concerns center around the dumping of foundry waste from Coimbatore and solid waste from Tiruppur Corporation’s Smart City Project. Environmental activists claim that a private agency contracted by the corporation is violating its agreement by simply dumping waste instead of segregating and recycling it, as stipulated. This practice, they argue, is a breach of the Solid Waste Management Rules and Plastic Waste Management Rules.
Citing Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees the right to a clean environment, the villagers and activists are demanding fines be levied against those responsible for polluting the quarries.
First Piper 