A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday directed the Kochi Corporation secretary to place before it all the contracts given for collection, transportation, handling and treatment of waste at the Brahmapuram plant and details of payments to contractors in the past seven years.
The Bench comprising Justice S.V. Bhatti and Justice Basant Balaji also directed the Corporation secretary to place before the court the chronology of handing over the responsibility to manage treatment facilities to a third party and also the mode and manner in which the decisions were taken.
The court passed the order when a suo motu case registered in connection with the Brahmapuram fire came up for hearing.
The court also directed the Chief Environmental Engineer, Ernakulam, to place on record the course of action he would take for the violations of the solid waste management rules at the treatment site and also on all previous occasions by the Corporation and the operators of the plant.
The court criticised the Pollution Control Board (PCB) for not taking action against the Corporation and the contractors for violating the solid waste management rules and asked the Chief Environmental Engineer how he could take the responsibility of protecting the environment if he could not enforce the rules.
When the court asked whether the board had assessed the impact of the fire and smoke on the neighbourhood and other areas, the engineer answered in the negative. The court asked whether collecting fine for violations and depositing these in a bank would solve the problem.
When the case was taken up, the Ernakulam District Collector informed the court that 90% to 95% of the fire at different portions at the dumping yard had been put out. However, the blaze got reignited and such fires could be doused within two hours. He also submitted that the air quality in the city had improved considerably.
