With stench from the heaps of waste at the Kochi Corporation’s solid waste treatment plant at Brahmapuram — situated in the neighbourhood of Infopark and the upcoming SmartCity Kochi — threatening to shoo away potential investors, the government has gone into damage control mode by directly intervening in the issue.
Gandhi Jayanthi on Friday marked the beginning of a clean-up drive at Brahmapuram by the Suchitwa Mission, with Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson presiding over its launch under Operation Anantha, which the government had already initiated in Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur for improving sanitation.
“Scientific waste disposal is as critical a prerequisite as roads to attract investments. The piled-up waste and stench emanating from it is a great disincentive to potential investors in SmartCity,” Mr. Thomson told a press conference here on Friday. He said the clean-up project had the complete backing of the Chief Minister and the Cabinet.
The government has roped in the service of S.R. Maley, an agro-environment specialist based in Mumbai, to spearhead the project. He had visited the plant twice recently and agreed to take up the challenge of cleaning up waste dumped there.
Asked whether the project was an alternative to the proposed new waste treatment plant at Brahmapuram, K. Vasuki, executive director, Suchitwa Mission, responded in the negative.
‘Temporary’
She said the government had initiated steps for setting up a gasification-based plant at Brahmapuram and the clean-up drive was a temporary arrangement till the new plant was set up.
“The drive is mainly aimed at controlling the odour emanating from the waste already dumped there and which has not been properly processed,” she said.
Mr. Thomson said the situation could not be left as such till the setting up of a new plant. “We are not making any tall claim, but are making a bold and sincere effort to address the situation,” he said.
