KOCHI: Kalamassery municipality is set to begin biomining at its dumping yard near North Kalamassery. At present, the yard has approximately 30 ft of plastic heaps spread over 3 acres, which need to be removed after biomining.
“The municipality has decided to move ahead with biomining for which soil testing and other related works are ongoing,” said Nishad AK, health standing committee chairman of the municipality. “The survey of total waste quantity at the dumpyard is on. We hope the biomining will begin soon,” he said.
He also said the council decided to stop sending biodegradable waste to Brahmapuram following the March fire outbreak and set up its own waste treatment plant instead. The government allocated around `3 crore under the Kerala Solid Waste Management Project (KSWMP). “In the first phase, a waste treatment plant (non-biodegradable) will be set up.
IT Global, a consultancy under KSWMP, is preparing the detailed project report. The dump yard has approximately 20,000 tonnes of waste, mostly plastic,” said a KSWMP official.“As per the initial discussion, a waste treatment plant of 20-25-tonne capacity will be set up. Once the DPR is approved the tender for biomining will be floated,” the official added.
The municipality will begin a sampling survey next week to identify the total quantity of biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste generated in its jurisdiction.“Since we have several educational institutions and commercial establishments such as Lulu, and have a huge floating population, it is essential to have approximate figures,” said the official.
Even as measures towards self-sufficiency in waste management progress in Kalamassery municipality, the government is keen on setting up the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd’s Bio-CNG plant at Brahmapuram.
“The municipality has been spending crores of rupees every year for sending waste to Brahmapuram. After the fire outbreak, waste collection in the area faced a crisis. The council decided to become self-sufficient by setting up a treatment plant for organic and non-organic waste and treat biomedical waste too in a phased manner,” said a municipality official.
The municipality has decided to extend the deadline for collecting biodegradable waste from households. “It was decided to stop the doorstep collection on August 15. However, we have not completed distributing bio-bins to households. It will take another couple of months and hence, the waste collection will continue until the bio-bins are distributed,” said Nishad.
“We received around 7,000 applications for bio bins, of which around 5,000 applicants received them. An additional request of 3,500 bio bins has also been received and submitted for approval,” Nishad said.
Waste treatment plant
The government allocated around Rs 3 crore under the Kerala Solid Waste Management Project. “In the first phase, a waste treatment plant (non-biodegradable) will be set up