Despite mounting public hostility towards the open dumping of solid waste in public places, two local government assemblies (panchayats) have declined to provide a license to a planned 500 tonne per day waste facility in Brahmapuram, Kochi.
According to a report in The Hindu, the Vadavucode-Puthencruz and Kunnathunadu panchayats decision follows renewed efforts by the Department of Local Self Government to establish a modern plant at the Kochi Corporation’s Brahmapuram site, which falls within the limits of the two panchayats.
The site at Brahmapuram had previously been home to a failed waste facility that a report by Indian news site, Express Buzz had dubbed an “utter failure”.
The original facility had been intended to incorporate sorting of non-biodegradable waste, accelerated aerobic composting, secure landfilling, effluent treatment plant and drinking water facilities.
Water quality
However, according to Express Buzz, which examined a Water Quality Analysis Report on the Kadambrayar river, in reality the facility ever operated as intended.
Additionally, large quantities of waste that were taken to the site began to pile up, polluting the nearby Kadambrayar and other nearby rivers - the main source of potable water in the area.
The water report showed that Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) near the plant is 36 mg/L and 5 mg/litre further away from the facility. The desirable limit is 2 mg/litre.
The amount of chloride was found to be 1247.84 mg/litre close to the site and 99.26 mg/litre further away. The normal chloride should be 75 mg/L.
In addition the pH value was also above the limit and the presence of E Coli - responsible for diarrhoeal diseases - was also detected in water.
Proposed solution
According to a statement on Oommen Chandy, the chief minister of Kerala’s website, in late December last year it was decided to set up a waste treatment plant at the Brahmapuram utilising modern technology that would benefit the city.
The statement said that the new plant required only half of the 102 acres the existing site spreads across. The rest of the land was intended to be utilised for new projects of Industrial IT departments.
According to the report in The Hindu, the proposed facility is among the three such projects being planned by the government across the state.
Rejected
Shaila Noushad, president of Kunnathunadu panchayat, told The Hindu that the government would have to face strong resistance from local residents against the move to set up a new plant at the site.
Meanwhile, stating that the panchayats would not issue the license required to install the facility, Rama Saju, president of the Vadavucode-Puthencruz panchayat is reported to have said that the unchecked dumping of waste at the now defunct Brahmapuram plant had turned the lives of thousands of residents into a misery.
“Our wells have become polluted. People here experience a lot of health problems. Many people fled from here unable to bear the stench emanating from the plant,” she said.
The report also claimed that Abdul Basheer KA, convener of the Kochi Corporation Malinya Nikshepa Virudha Action Council, had said that they were planning to approach the Vigilance Court seeking a detailed inquiry into allegations of corruption in the establishment of the now defunct plant of the Kochi Corporation at Brahmapuram.
