KOCHI : Following TNIE’s report on the district administration’s failure to implement proper safety measures at Brahmapuram, a delegation led by Industries Minister P Rajeeve visited the waste treatment plant and dumpyard there on Tuesday. The minister promised that all measures, including the construction of roads to the site, will be completed within a few weeks.
After a review meeting of people’s representatives and senior officers, Rajeeve said 30% of the waste remaining at the Brahmapuram site will be cleared by June. The construction of road access to the dumpyard is 85% complete, he added. The roads will be tested in the coming days to see if fire engines can access the area easily. The testing will be monitored by the fire and rescue services department.
“The interior roads at the 70-acre dumpyard will be constructed so that 16 tonne and 25 tonne fire engines can have proper access to the site,” he said.
The Kochi corporation will establish 30 street lights at Brahmapuram within two weeks. The announcement follows a report by the internal vigilance and intelligence wing of the fire and rescue services department which found that the lights at the waste treatment plant are not functioning despite the availability of proper electricity supply by KSEB.
The minister reckoned that once the water tanks, reservoirs, and hydrants at the site become fully functional, there will not be any need for fire engines to come inside the dumpyard to extinguish fire. There are five hydrants at the site of which only three are currently functional. The repair of the remaining two will be completed within two days. Further, 12 more hydrants, at a cost of Rs 75 lakh, will be installed at the site after proper tender procedures within two weeks, Rajeeve said.
Another key decision taken by the high-level team relates to the construction of water tanks. While a tank with a capacity of 50,000 litres is ready, three more water tanks with the same capacity will be constructed with immediate effect, taking the total storage capacity to two lakh litres. Three motors will also be operated from the tanks. There are 21 cameras functioning at the site, including 12 cameras connected to the bio-mining area. The police and the fire department will be provided access to the cameras.
Rajeeve said the Kochi corporation has appointed 25 fire watchers at the site.
“While the corporation is doing a commendable job of removing legacy waste at the site, the fire watchers will be trained further by the fire force on Thursday,” the minister said.
While there are five teams to spray water at the site, five more teams will be appointed soon.
He said the watch tower is functioning efficiently at the moment, with 80% coverage.
Two Black Soldier Fly organic plants with 50 tonne capacity will become functional from March, allowing the corporation to process 100 tonnes of waste per day. The repair of the corporation’s windrow plant will also begin soon. Once functional, it will have the capacity to treat 50 tonnes of waste per day, the minister said. Also, BPCL’s waste treatment plant will be ready within a year.
Kunnathunad MLA P V Sreenijin, Kochi Mayor M Anilkumar and Ernakulam Collector N S K Umesh were part of the delegation.
Work in progress
85% construction of access roads complete, to be tested in coming days
To ensure interior roads to dumpsite have access to 16 tonnes and 25 tonnes fire engines
Kochi corp to install 30 street lights at Brahmapuram site within 2 weeks
Only 3 out of 5 hydrants are functional, repair of remaining two will be done within 2 days
12 hydrants costing K75 lakh to be put in place
3 water tanks with 50,000-litre capacity to be constructed, in addition to the existing 2
21 cameras functioning at the site; police and the fire dept to get access
30% legacy waste to be removed by June