Brahmapuram stinks as untreated garbage piles up at landfill

THRIKKAKARA: Few days after the fire Brahmapuram plant was brought under control, the place is stinking due to a pile of fresh waste dumped here. Every day for a week, 50-60 loads of organic and plastic waste are dumped in a corner of the plant. An average of 150 tonnes reach here daily. Other than the waste rotting away, no treatment is being done.

As the current contract has expired, the corporation is running the plant directly. More staff have been appointed for this purpose. Waste comes from five municipalities and three panchayats. The contract with them will also end on March 31. Later only waste from the Corporation will be accepted.

Ten days ago, fire engines and Hitachis were running day and night on the 50-acre plastic mountain that was engulfed in flames. Only employees of Kochi Corporation are in the office. Work on installing new cameras and commissioning motors and hydrants has not yet started.

The team headed by Thrikkakara Assistant Commissioner PV Baby, which is investigating the fire incident, summoned the corporation employees, contractors and security personnel again yesterday and took their statements. A statement was also taken from Suresh, the overseer in charge of the plant.

Fire force tightens surveillance

The monitoring is divided into 7 sectors of the plant area. Four units of vehicles are camping. One fire officer and 17 employees are on duty round the clock in two shifts.

A private agency's inspection of the Brahmapuram landfill revealed that the temperature inside the garbage is still high. Under the leadership of the police, the Palarivattom agency conducted the inspection using the Ecotech stack sampling machine. It is found that the temperature is up to 48 degrees at a depth of one metre. Plastic waste is buried even deeper than this.