KOCHI: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday inaugurated the foundation stone laying ceremony for the Brahmapuram Waste-to-Energy(WtE) treatment plant at a function held at the Town Hall here. Addressing the gathering, the CM said the menace posed by mounting plastic refuse and garbage in the state can be tackled to a large extent since the LDF Government is planning to set up eight decentralised WtE plants in the five Corporations and three municipalities.
" Through these, the government is making efforts to usher in a new waste management system which was once considered an impossible task. The work on setting up the WtE plants in eight cities is going full throttle. This will help to rid the state of the waste menace," he said.
The decentralised plants will be set up in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pandalam, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Palakkad and Kannur . "The best available option is to treat the garbage at source. But it is difficult to execute in the cities like Kochi. The piling of waste will lead to disease outbreak. It was after factoring in this we decided to establish the decentralised plants in the cities," Pinarayi said. According to him, the proposed WtE plant at Brahmapuram to be set up at a cost of `375 crore will not harm the environment. "The public had raised several concerns when the government decided to set up the plant at Brahmapuram. Even the project was stalled owing to their concerns. Based on this an expert was appointed to study the project.
The agreement with the GJ Eco Power Ltd was signed after changes were made to the original agreement. The plant will go on stream within 18 months," the CM said. "We should hand over a clean environment and pure water sources to the posterity. This means they should not be forced to live in a polluted environment. Everyone should desist from the practice of dumping waste in water bodies. Instead, a 'culture of hygiene' should be promoted. A joint effort by people's representatives, the people and cultural activists alone can help to achieve this goal," he said.
LSG Minister K T Jaleel said the government will extend all help to the Kochi Corporation to ensure the WtE plant's success. " The government will set up 200 plastic shredding unit across the state, Jaleel said.Mayor Soumini Jain, Deputy Mayor T J Vinod, K V Thomas MP, MLAs Hibi Eden,
P T Thomas, M Swaraj and John Fernandes, District Collector K Mohammed Y Safeerulla, Additional Chief Secretary T K Jose, GJ Eco Power CEO Jiby George CPM district secretary P Rajeev, former Mayor Tony Chammany and councillors were present
MLA keeps off function
Local MLA VP Sajeendran stayed away from the function to express solidarity with the hartal called by the Dalit outfits. Nonetheless, he sounded upbeat on the city's dream of having an effective waste management system finally coming true. " This is really a happy moment for us as the long wait has come to an end. Though I really wanted to part of the ceremony I am staying away from the function to express solidarity with the strike," he said.
Project Outline
Process 300 tonnes unsegregated Municipal Solid Waste.
Green Power Generation capacity of 10 MW.
Uses Advanced Proven Waste to Energy Technology - Gasification.
Pre-processing to remove moisture, recyclables & Inert material.