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Kochi fire under control, HC asks Govt to set up damage control measures
Ernakulam district collector N S K Umesh informed the high court that the fire at the Brahmapuram waste treatment plant in Kochi was fully extinguished after 12 days of gruelling efforts and a team of fire force personnel was camping at the site to monitor the situation.
After 12 days of gruelling efforts, the fire at the Brahmapuram waste treatment plant in Kochi was fully extinguished, Ernakulam district collector N S K Umesh informed the high court on Tuesday even as the HC directed the state government to set up enough air quality and water testing centres on “priority basis”.
He told the court that smoke was “completely doused” and a team of fire force personnel was camping at the site to monitor the situation. Lauding the initiative of fire force personnel, the court said it will fix the liability after examining all records.
The court directed the state government to set up enough air quality and water testing centres on priority basis and take immediate measures to check increased use of plastic and its waste. A division bench of justices S V Bhatti and Basant Balaji also said they will appoint three amici curiae to monitor waste management measures in the city. “We cannot leave people to such hardships. We need a proper waste management system,” the court said.
The court had registered a case suo motu case last week in the matter. On Monday, the court had ordered the Kochi corporation to submit all files. It asked the corporation to give details of all payments made to the contractor, transportation and other expenses.
Acid rain likely, say experts
Experts said the first summer showers in the port city will be laden with unsafe chemical materials in view of the inferno. They said such a tendency, often called acid rain, was inevitable in view of large collection of harmful chemicals like dioxin, furan and acidic components like sulphuric and nitric acid in the air.
“Chemicals like dioxin and furan will not subside and can merge with dust particles easily. These chemicals can enter human body and pollute water bodies and crops in the nearby areas. People will have to take enough precautions for few months,” said pollution control board chief engineer P K Baburajan.
Environmental scientists said unless immediate steps are not taken it may even contaminate water bodies in surrounding areas. They said chemical pollution in the air even spread to neighbouring districts like Thrissur and Alapuzha and called for an expert study to pinpoint environment impact and damages.
“Centralised waste management is not practical in the state due to semi-urban landscape, high density of population and heavy rains. But city corporations turn to it because it opens enough avenues for corruption. Engaging vehicles, sorting to dumping involve many heads of corruption,” said environmental activist C R Neelakantan. He said a decentralised plan, segregating waste at origin, and proper treatment of segregated particles was only solution to the mounting problem.
Assembly disrupted again:
The Kerala assembly witnessed uproarious scenes for the second consecutive day on Tuesday over the fire incident and opposition members held a parallel sitting of the House to mock at chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s continued silence before staging a walkout.
Opposition members were angry with the police baton charge on corporation councillors on Monday in Kochi during which several people were hurt. Police resorted to lathicharge while trying to block mayor Anil Kumar from entering the corporation house. Though the opposition tried to move an adjournment motion, Speaker A N Shamseer refused it saying the fire was “under control” and many other issues were pending. But the opposition insisted on a reply from the CM. “The CM is running away from the issue. We need his reply on such a serious issue,” said opposition leader V D Satheesan.
During heated arguments, the Speaker pulled up Congress legislator Shafi Parambhil for blocking his view by raising a banner in the House. “People are watching these developments. Most of you have won by a narrow margin. Shafi, you may lose election next time,” Speaker’s words angered opposition members. “It is the people of Palakkad who elected me, not you. I do not need your sermons on this,” Shafi shot back. After the walkout, the Opposition members said the government was busy “shielding people” behind the incident.
The BJP also criticised the government saying it was height of callousness. “The government watched while Kochi turned into a gas chamber. The long- term impact of toxic smoke will be dire. Even equipment given by the Centre to measure presence of harmful pollutants were never installed,” tweeted minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan. But the ruling CPI(M) said the Congress and BJP were “whipping up the issue even after the fire was brought under control to portray the state in bad light”.
Meanwhile, a committee constituted by the Kerala high court has found that the waste treatment site at Brahmapuram doesn’t conform to the provisions of Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.
“No material-wise segregation has happened so far, and no magnetic separator and cyclonic/air density separator are made available. Because of this, Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) which is one of the main end products, is of inferior quality and, hence it is not accepted at cement factories,” the committee said.
The committee found that the RDF generated after the biomining process has not been transported from the Brahmapuram site.
“As per Central Pollution Control Board guidelines, the percentage of rejects should be less than 10% but the rejects obtained is at least three times higher than the permissible limits, which is unacceptable,” it said.
“Based on the above mentioned facts, it is submitted that the site doesn’t conform to the provisions of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016,” the report said.
With PTI inputs
