NGT tells PCB to remove ash beneath burnt plastic waste at Brahmapuram before May-end

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (PCB) to quantify the burnt and unburnt waste lying at the dump site of the Kochi Corporation at Brahmapuram following the massive fire on March 2.

The Southern Bench of the tribunal comprising of Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana, and expert member Dr. Satyagopal Korlapati directed the board to fix realistic timelines for biomining along with suggestions on how it can be expedited. The Bench issued the order after the regional office of the board in Ernakulam submitted a report stating that biomining should be completed before the onset of monsoon in June.

“We fail to understand how the entire biomining can be completed in a short period of two months. The tribunal is concerned about the ensuing monsoon that would set in, in the first week of June, and once it starts, unless the ash beneath the burnt plastic or burnt legacy wastes is removed, will mix with rainwater and reach nearby water bodies,” the Bench said.

The Bench asked the board and the Kochi Corporation to join hands to initiate a scientific study at the earliest to segregate the burnt plastics/burnt waste and the ashes under it to avoid water pollution during monsoon and possible air pollution during segregation. The department of Local Self-Government has to focus on this issue and give appropriate directions to the Corporation and the board. We reiterate that the entire exercise should be completed before the end of May, it said.