KOCHI: Kochi Corporation is dumping thousands of tonnes of waste, including heavy metals like cadmium and mercury, and plastic, on the shores of Kadambrayar near the Brahmapuram Solid Waste Treatment Plant since 2007. Due to space constraints the authorities are not treating waste properly. As a result, tonnes of waste are getting accumulated at the plant. The delay in starting the operations of the plant coupled with various technical defects even after the plant was switched over to active mode are the reasons for the waste accumulation.“Windrow composting is used for treating large quantity of waste but it requires a large area. As the plant is filled with garbage there is not enough space to carry out the process,” an expert said. The working of the plant is now at a standstill. “The Corporation has dug up a trench on the shores of the river to dump waste and cover it up. The authorities have invited tender for `1.85 crore to do the work. But this will create serious health hazards,” said Abdul Basheer, former convenor, Brahmapuram Action Council, said.“Despite having a 500-tonne capacity, the garbage deposited at the plant never exceeded 100 tonnes a day,” said former Deputy Mayor C K Manisankar. This shows that the plant is totally underutilised.“More than Rs 275 crore has been spent on the project. But we have gained nothing out of it,” he said. Making matters worse, the organisation that was responsible for the treatment of garbage has stopped operating the plant as a huge amount is due from the Kochi Corporation. “The garbage is being dumped into a trench and is being covered with mud which would only aggravate the situation. With the onset of monsoon, the garbage will leak into Kadambrayar,” said former Health Standing Committee chairman N A Mani. The Corporation should take steps on a war footing to tackle the issue.
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