Fire and Rescue Services personnel, on Sunday, try to put out the fire that broke out at the Brahmapuram waste treatment plant in Kochi three days ago.
| Photo Credit: PTI
A crisis meeting chaired by Chief Secretary V.P. Joy has urged Kochi residents to stay indoors and ordered hospitals to prepare for emergency admission of patients with respiratory distress as the three-day-old smouldering fire at the expansive garbage storage yard of the Brahmapuram solid waste treatment plant in the city fuelled public anxiety about the severe air pollution and its worrying public health fallout.
The meeting, attended by Central government officials and chemical fire experts late Saturday, also attempted to quantify the public health implications of the large-scale release of dioxins from the burning plastic into the atmosphere. The fumes from the fire had overwhelmed large swathes of the city, worsening its relatively poor air quality index.
Advice to shopping malls
The government has advised non-essential establishments in Kochi, including shopping malls, to close for the day to keep people indoors. It has counselled outdoor sports and walking enthusiasts to remain indoors.
The administration is closely monitoring hospital admissions, especially those with respiratory trouble. It has asked hospitals to stock up on medical oxygen and ensure sufficient beds in intensive care units.
The government has deemed the outdoors temporarily unhealthy for senior citizens, children and those with chronic respiratory ailments. The meeting weighed several options, including flooding the site and using agents to expedite combustion.
Long-term solutions suggested at the meeting reportedly included bio-mining, using micro-organisms to break down the largely unsegregated waste and retard heavy metal pollution. The government has reportedly ruled out bio-capping, covering large garbage dumps with earth and giving the mounds a green cover, given that land is a premium in Kochi and scouting for public land for waste disposal would trigger local resistance.
Probing sabotage angle
Meanwhile, residents’ associations have blamed the municipal authorities for ignoring cautionary reports that the garbage mound is a ticking toxic time bomb that could go off any time, especially when day temperatures soar during the scorching summer months.
In a related development, the State police are investigating whether sabotage caused the fire or it had self-ignited. The meeting included the Central government and Indian Navy officials.
