New plan for waste plant site

Vilappilsala plant premises found suitable for housing tech varsity headquarters

The site of the Vilappilsala solid waste treatment plant that has been remaining closed for the past six years, has been found suitable by the government for housing the headquarters of the A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technological University (initially Kerala Technological University).

The Local Self Government (LSG) Department has been asked to offer its opinion on taking over the land of Vilappilsala plant that belongs to the city Corporation.

The sprawling premises has been found feasible to set up the university headquarters, Minister for Education C. Ravindranath said on Thursday in the Assembly in a written reply to a question by I.B. Satheesh. Further steps would be taken after getting the reply from the LSG Department, he said.

The State government university came into existence on May 21, 2014, with an aim to giving leadership to the technology-related policy formulation and engineering planning in the State, is now functioning from the College of Engineering campus in the capital.

The move comes amidst the city Corporation’s ambitious plan to set up an amusement park at the site of the plant at a cost of ₹2 crore after the local body lost hopes of reviving the plant.

The standoff

The Vilappilsala project was undertaken by the Corporation with the assistance received from Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The centralised waste processing plant for the fast-growing capital city was set up on the 12-acre government land bought in 1995 for the City corporation.

Vilappilsala had witnessed a strong people’s agitation after leachate from the plant caused health issues to the residents.

Last year, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had ordered the Corporation to find an alternative location to shift the accumulated waste in the plant. It was on December 20, 2011, that the last truckloads of garbage from the city rolled into the waste treatment plant at Vilappilsala.