KOCHI: From Wednesday onwards all activities at Brahmapuram waste treatment plant can be monitored online by the authorities by just sitting at Kochi Corporation office. This is because installation of CCTV cameras, which have been linked to the office was completed on Tuesday. Corporation’s decision to install CCTVs comes in wake of illegal dumping of garbage, septic and other types of waste near the plant premises.
The plant’s entry portion, property area, weigh bridge, plant processing unit and dumping yard are the main areas which come under CCTV surveillance. “The installation of the cameras and linking them to internet has been finished. From Wednesday onwards the activities at the plant can be viewed at the corporation office. A separate computer has been also installed for monitoring the activities,” said Sudheer Raj, assistant engineer of Corporation office who monitored the installation.
The new technology will also give a day-to-day recount of the amount of waste being treated at the plant. “The technology connected to the weigh bridge will provide the details on the amount of waste brought in for processing. A report will be available every evening online,” he said.
A Kochi based private company has installed the CCTVs and other facility at a cost of `3.65 lakh. Though the tender proceedings to install CCTV was initiated in 2014, it remained on the shelve for years, with the authorities citing technical difficulties regarding its implementation. The process took speed after the District Collector M G Rajamanickam, who assumed the charge as the acting Kochi Mayor, removed the red tapes binding the project.
“In the night time people dump waste near the plant premises. Complaints also have been received regarding the functioning of plant. With the installation of the cameras all the activities can be monitored at the office it self. As the CCTV footage is regarded as a prime evidence, offenders can be nabbed immediately and action can be taken,” said the District Collector M G Rajamanickam.
Earlier, the collector also had decided to convert Brahmapuram waste treatment plant, spread over 110 acres, into a green-belt by growing fodder on the unutilised land and a plan has been chalked out with the agriculture department.