KOCHI: Hit by a surge in complaints of inefficient waste collection and treatment, the Kochi corporation is gearing up for a total revamp of the city’s waste management system while also focusing on plugging financial leakage.
“The corporation will look into cutting down unwanted expenses by reviewing the lapses in existing waste management programmes,” Mayor Minimol V K said after the council meeting on Thursday, adding that the city’s waste management system would undergo major changes in the coming days.
The council meeting discussed in detail the defunct Compressed Biogas (CBG) Plant that was set up by the BPCL at Brahmapuram. The project, meant for treatment of 150 tonnes of food waste, segregated at source, per day, has been lying idle owing to various operational challenges. At present, the corporation spends Rs 2,500 to process a tonne of plastic waste at Brahmapuram. The council is looking into ways to cut down such costs, including vehicle charges.
“We have decided to take up the matter with the chief minister and sort out the issues. Instead of the CBG plant, which would cause losses to the corporation, the project proposed by G3R will be more viable,” the mayor said, referring to private firm G3 Renewables Pvt Ltd, which had proposed setting up an organic waste treatment plant on 3.5 acre of land at Brahmapuram.
“This can bring down expenses as they will take care of waste collection and transportation,” she said.
Meanwhile, urging the corporation to convene a special council for the analysis of solid waste management plan and chalk out future programmes, Vyttila councillor V P Chandran alleged that the previous (LDF-led) administration spent large amounts in the name of solid waste management, but the projects ultimately yielded no results.
“After the fire at the Brahmapuram waste in 2023, many initiatives were implemented, but never continued after launch, causing enormous sums of money to go to waste,” said Chandran. He claimed that the much-publicised Thumburmuzhi model waste treatment bins were distributed in a few divisions, but the entire initiative fizzled out after launch.
“Despite spending large amount on buying vehicles for waste collection and setting up plants, the system seems to choke with no proper monitoring,” Chandran alleged.
‘Corp failed to keep up’
Leader of Opposition in the council V A Sreejith alleged that the present UDF-led corporation failed to keep up with the initiatives taken by previous LDF-led council. “It is essential to turn waste into income, but it can only be achieved by implementing projects without drawbacks. Cost-cutting measures should focus on making the waste management system better instead of entrusting private firms like G3R and without sorting out issues in the existing CBG plant,” he said.
City’s waste management expenses (2025-26)
Repairs & maintenance of treatment plants: Rs 20.19 lakh
Sanitation & waste management: Rs 23.57 crore
Public sanitation: Rs 21.44 crore
Solid waste management (SWM)-General: Rs 2.70 crore
SWM-Collection & transportation: Rs 45.27 lakh
SWM-Related activities: Rs 9.99 lakh
SWM-Processing: Rs 9.04 crore