With the recent fire at Brahmapuram sparking off protests against the disposal of waste at the site, the Kochi Corporation has speeded up measures to manage plastic waste. Civic authorities have decided to invite an Expression of Interest to establish a fuel-from-plastic plant to process the plastic waste accumulated at Brahmapuram.
Officials of the Corporation have also decided to fence the 10-acre dumping yard. Kochi Mayor Tony Chammany placed the proposals at an all-party meeting convened on Saturday at his chamber.
The Corporation came up with the idea of setting up the fuel plant after civic representatives visited a few waste treatment plants in Pune.
The agency collecting clean plastic from the site has been asked to install a plastic shredding unit. When the plastic has been reduced to granules it will be easy for the agency to transport waste from the site. “The shredding unit is expected to come up within a month,” said T.K. Ashraf, chairman of the Town Planning Standing Committee of the Kochi Corporation.
However, the civic body is not keen on making any major investments at the plant site as the State government has offered to set up a modern waste treatment plant next year. The civic body will approach the State government to identify the area where the unit will be set up. “Though the Corporation may not go in for mega investments at the site, it may have to carryout some basic works including the construction of a compound wall,” civic authorities said.
Meanwhile, the opposition parties slammed civic administrators at an all-party meeting, which was convened to apprise representatives of political parties about the post-fire situation at Brahmapuram. CPI(M) representative K.N. Sunilkumar turned down the Mayor’s suggestion that an all-party delegation should visit Brahmapuram on Monday.
Mr. Sunilkumar said the party needed some time to decide on policy issues.
He said, the civic administrators had failed to take the opposition into confidence on all major issues including the fire at Brahmapuram.
“The corporation has the responsibility to clear the mystery that shrouds the fire incident. The agency should lodge a police complaint to find out how the fire broke out at the yard. There are allegations that plastic waste was set on fire.”
The covering of burnt plastic using gravel was a questionable act and the Corporation handled the situation in a casual manner, he alleged.
