The State government should conduct a Vigilance probe into the fire that occurred at Brahmapuram garbage treatment plant on March 15 and the alleged lapses on the part of police in probing the case, the Kochi Corporation Council demanded on Saturday.
The fire was the sixth this year at the plastic-treatment plant. Interestingly, all CCTV cameras at the plant became inactive just before the fire and came alive within two hours. It was later discovered that the hard disc of the system was reformatted. This points to the fire being lit on purpose and also that there was attempt to tamper with evidence. The police probe is far from adequate and this has been intimated to the City Police Commissioner and the District Collector, said Mayor Soumini Jain, at the council.
The fire at the plant in February had resulted in plastic waste mounting at different places in the city. They were transported to the plant after CCTVs were installed and following the intervention of the District Collector. The National Green Tribunal too had sought steps to enhance security of the plant, the Mayor said.
Ro-ro agreement
The Corporation council deferred a decision on signing an agreement with the Kerala State Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC) on operation of ro-ro vessels in Fort Kochi-Vypeen route, due to opposition from LDF members. Though it was included in the agenda of Saturday’s council meeting, the Mayor said the agreement would be signed only after reviewing the details of income and expenditure of the vessels.
Opposition leader K.J. Antony alleged that the civic body had not received any revenue from the two vessels during the past year, though it spent ₹18 crore for the project. The KSINC had not complied with an MoU entered into in 2018 that revenue would be shared with the Corporation. The agency had received ₹1.26 crore from the service during the past year, he said.
CPI(M) councillor C.K Peter said the civic body failed to constitute a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to operate the vessels.
“It also failed in reviewing the income and expenditure details of the agency every three months, as specified in the MoU. The Corporation spent ₹22 lakh for repairing the damaged propeller of one of the vessels, though KSINC had to bear the cost of repairs, he said.
Details sought
Replying to the debate, the Mayor directed the Finance Committee to submit details of the income and expenditure of the vessels within a week. She added that there were lapses on the part of KSINC in conducting the service.
