Brahmapuram fire | Affected areas face problems of smoke, smell of burnt plastic

Fire and Rescue services personnel toiling on March 3 to put out the smoke billowing from the smouldering garbage at Brahmapuram waste treatment plant.
| Photo Credit: Thulasi Kakkat

“Like snowfall in some exotic places, there is now ashes falling around us,” M.M. Basheer, a resident of Brahmapuram ward in Vadavucode-Puthencruz panchayat fumed sarcastically when asked about how they were coping in the wake of a massive fire breakout at Kochi Corporation’s solid waste treatment plant in Brahmapuram.

Though there is no residential area in the immediate neighbourhood of the plant, the raging fire has ensured that the impact of the smoke and odour of plastic waste was felt in about a 10-km radius and Basheer is among those living nearest to the plant.

“This has now become a yearly phenomenon during February-March. Interestingly, the fire always breaks out along multiple points in the most inaccessible parts of the plastic waste piled up to the height of multi-storied buildings. In a sense, we are happy that it happened since people from the city and other places who had conveniently packed off their problem here with little thought are now feeling the heat,” he said.

Navas T.S, a member of Brahmapuram ward, said that people were complaining of breathlessness caused by the smoke and smell of burnt plastic. “Apart from 100-odd migrant workers engaged to segregate the waste and settled in the abandoned houses near the plant, no one has been relocated from the area yet. It seems unlikely that the fire will be doused anytime soon,” he said.

Jeevan Paul, another resident of Brahmapuram, said that people have little option but to remain in their houses with the doors and windows closed to keep the smoke and odour at bay. “Smoke continues to switches direction based on the wind. While in the morning it seems to be more towards the city and adjoining areas, in the afternoon, places like Ambalamugal, Pallikkara, etc are more affected,” he said.

K.H. Haneesh, a resident of Fort Kochi, had a tough time riding his motorcycle while on his way to a turf at Palachuvadu to play cricket in the early morning hours of March 4. “The stretch near Kundannoor was particularly worse. There was almost zero visibility, which could lead to accidents,” he said.