In a scathing order issued on January 21, 2021 warning about an impending danger at the dump site of the Kochi Corporation at Brahmapuram, the Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal led by its Chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel wrote: “Long stories of all round failure of the administration are poor substitute for good governance required to enforce environmental rule of law for protection of public health and the environment. The fact remains that the administration is patently a failure in protecting citizens’ right to a clean environment which is in no way less important than the right to live in a crime free environment. There is no meaningful action for complying with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 (SWM Rules) and handling of solid waste in spite of repeated directions in the last two years”.
The legal caution that went unheeded then had its resonance two years later when the ‘garbage mountain’ at the site went up in flames following a massive fire on March 2.
Hundreds were impacted when they took ill after inhaling the toxic fumes as the authorities were able to douse the raging fire only after 11 days. With another fire being reported from sector 7 of the legacy waste on March 26, the Brahmapuram fiasco remains a classic case scenario of how the authorities have failed to resolve the long-standing issue of waste management in the commercial capital of Kerala.
“The government has, for reasons of political expediency, avoided its responsibilities in solid waste management. It failed to establish modern treatment facilities. Local bodies avoided obligatory collection of waste under the cover of decentralised waste management’ policy. The Budget allocation for obligatory solid waste management was more than 60% of the Budget of local bodies before they stopped collection,” says Ajit Haridas, former chairman of the Kerala State Pollution Control Board.
“The abdication of responsibility to provide an essential service has opened the door to criminalisation of the services as private agencies collect waste at high cost and manage illegal dumping,” he says.
It is not the Kochi Corporation alone that have failed to resolve the garbage menace as the majority of local bodies in the district have not yet complied with the norms prescribed under the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.
As per Rule 22 (5) of the Solid Waste Management Rules, door-to-door collection of segregated waste and its transportation in covered vehicles to processing or disposal facility should have been ensured by April, 2019. Five municipalities, including Aluva, Angamaly, Kalamassery, Thrikkakara and Thripunithura, have been transporting its biodegradable waste, including the waste generated at markets, to Brahmapuram in blatant violation of the norms for long.
Besides the issue of non-compliance with the norms, the failure to set up facilities as per the SWM rules have also drained the coffers of the civic bodies depending on Brahmapuram to dump its waste.
An assessment by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board in May 2019 had revealed that the local bodies were paying a fee in the range of ₹3 to ₹9 lakh monthly to the Kochi Corporation for dumping the waste at the site.
A survey on the status of legacy waste management carried out by the board in March 2021 stated that “scientific management of solid waste still seems to be a herculean task as the common facilities provided by some of the local bodies are dump sites only”. The field survey in 12 municipalities revealed that none of the local bodies had taken steps for legacy waste management, though dumping areas had emerged in various pockets.
The Brahmapuram fallout had prompted the Department of Local Self Government to push for source-level management of biodegradable waste, though the government agencies were in the dark about the number of households and institutions that had successfully installed bio bins and biogas plants.
“There should be no compromise on ensuring source-level treatment of biodegradable waste. As it has become clear that the proposed waste to energy plant at Brahmapuram would not turn into a reality in the near future, there is no need for storage of waste at the site,” suggests Prof. P.K Raveendran, former State president of the Kerala Sastra Sahithya Parishad.
