When it comes to the US, the Left seems to have a problem with even trash. A four-member high-level committee of the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) along with senior Customs officials is set to examine three containers imported from New York currently lying at Kochi port, which are suspected to contain plastic and municipal waste.While the examination was to happen on Wednesday, it has now been postponed for Thursday. The experts include Vijay Kumar, Chief Environmental Scientist, Thiruvananthapuram; Sudheer Babu, Senior Environmental Engineer, KSPCB, Thiruvananthapuram; and Abdul Rehman and Malathi, Chief Environmental Engineers, Kochi.Preliminary examination by KSPCB officials is believed to have revealed the presence of plastic waste and glass pieces along with waste paper in the containers, which arrived two weeks ago for disposal. However, there is no hazardous material, and neither are the contents likely to cause any environmental pollution.But what has got the officials’ got is the presence of “municipal waste”. Kochi, which is finding it difficult to dispose its own garbage, cannot be used as a dumping ground for municipal waste, said the officials.Customs authorities have sought a “detailed 100 per cent examination” of the three containers to determine this. Customs Collector D D Ingty has promised that if any municipal waste was found in the consignment, it would be sent back. The containers are kept at the Container Freight Station at nearby Pettah.Another worry is that when the containers are opened, the hydrologically compressed waste would occupy a lot of space and cannot be repacked, sources said.KPCB Chairman G Rajmohan added that the containers had been imported by ‘Cochin Kadlas’, a company manufacturing kraft paper, and it had permission to import only waste paper. If anything other than the permitted consignment was found, it would be sent back to the US.Only non-halogen plastic can be imported into the country and that too only after prior permission from the Director General of Foreign Trade, he said.
