The Kozhikode Municipal Corporation has decided to take over the operation of the waste treatment plant at Njeliyanparamba after the Delhi-based Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) that was entrusted with the operations, backed out due to financial constraints.
Mayor Thottathil Raveendran said at the Corporation Council meeting on Wednesday that ₹5 lakh had been set aside to repair the damaged machines in the plant and that at least 10 skilled workers from the corporation's contingency staff would be deployed at the plant immediately, besides, a health inspector, who would manage it.
The corporation had faced music back in 2013 for extending the contract with IL&FS, as the allegation of corruption in the purchase of organic manure from the plant by the corporation came into the limelight.
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Later, the company ran into a financial crisis and demanded an at least ₹7 lakh from the corporation monthly to keep the plant running.
However, the plant stopped functioning in April 2019, resulting in heaps of waste being dumped at Njeliyanparamba unprocessed, earning the wrath of the local people, who have always been at loggerheads with the corporation over the dumping ground.
Health officer R.S. Gopakumar said that there were around 20 employees at the plant under IL&FS, some of whom quit after the plant was wound up. Hence, the corporation was deploying employees with enough technical know-how to operate the plant until the proposed waste-to-energy plant by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation came up in less than two years.
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