The State government has sanctioned 70 cents of land for a septage treatment plant to be constructed by Palakkad Municipality.
The municipality will build the treatment plant as part of the Central government’s Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) project.
The 70 cents of land earmarked in Yakkara village near the Government Medical College for the septage treatment plant had stirred a controversy with former Minister for Welfare of SC/ST and Backward Classes A.K. Balan objecting to it saying that the plant would hinder the development of the medical college.
Mr. Balan had demanded that the government reviewed its decision to give the medical college land for the septage treatment plant. According to him, the plant would be detrimental to the medical college’s future. He said it was stupid to set up a plant in the medical college land when there was enough land within the municipal limits.
Mr. Balan’s opposition had triggered a controversy as the municipal authorities, backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), lashed out at him for his ‘selfish’ remarks. “Mr. Balan is jealous and upset. He opposed the septage treatment plant being set up in the 70 cents of land adjacent to the medical college without understanding the facts and the situation,” said Municipal Vice Chairman E. Krishnadas.
“Anyone with some sense about the importance of having a septage treatment plant will never raise such an objection. We have only one question to Mr. Balan: what will he do when the septic tank at his house is full? It’s high time that we all realise the importance of not dumping the fecal waste or our septic waste in the open areas,” said Mr. Krishnadas.
The government handed over the 70 cents for the septage plant by retaining its ownership with the Revenue Department. It was part of the 50-acre land the government had originally acquired from ITI and handed over to the SC/ST Department for construction of the medical college. When the medical college was sanctioned 20 acres, the nursing college nearby was given three acres.
District Collector Mrunmai Joshi had told the government that the septage treatment plant could be constructed without affecting the function of the medical college. Now the ball is in the district revenue authority’s court to speed up the construction of the treatment plant.
