Fire force personnel from Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) spray water to quell the smoke at Brahmapuram waste treatment plant in Kochi on March 11, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Thulasi Kakkat
The Kerala government has announced a vigilance probe into the affairs of the Brahmapuram solid waste treatment plant since its inception. A Special Investigation Team of the police will take over the probe related to the Brahmapuram fire. An expert team would be constituted to come up with suggestions for the effective implementation of the waste management measures and measures to avert future accidents at the waste treatment sites, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan informed the State Assembly on March 15.
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The Committee will look into the reasons for the fire and suitability of the site for a waste treatment plant.
A scrutiny on the implementation of the directives and guidelines of the Kerala State Pollution Control Board will be carried out. The culpability regarding the non-implementation of the directives will be fixed.
The Panel has been asked to review the agreement regarding the windrow compost unit at Brahmapuram. It has also been asked to assess whether the Kochi Corporation had reviewed the waste management measures undertaken at Brahmapuram, the Chief Minister informed the house.
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The expert panel will apprise the situations where the refuse from the neighbouring local bodies were taken to Brahmapuram. The lacuna in the function of the windrow compost plant and the culpability for its failure will be fixed, he said.
The role played by the Kochi Corporation and the company which was selected for bioremediation measures at Brahmapuram in the effective implementation of the contract conditions will be reviewed. The situation where the decentralised and segregated waste collection and treatment facility had failed at Kochi will be reviewed, the house was informed.
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The State Ministers for Local Self Government Departments and Industries will carry out a weekly review of the waste management mechanism in Kochi. Moreover, the Additional Chief Secretary (Local Self Government Department) will also monitor the activities. Studies to assess the possible long and short term health impacts of the pollution caused by the blaze will be carried out, Mr. Vijayan informed the House.
