Corporation plays hide and seek as Kochi stinks

KOCHI: It is high time the Kochi Corporation stopped playing hide and seek on the issue of waste management at the Brahmapuram Solid Waste Treatment Plant.Implying just as much, the district panchayat wants the Kochi Corporation to take immediate steps to dismantle the Solid waste Treatment Plant at Brahmapuram and return the land to its real owners - the evictees. This is a clear indication that the district panchayat is not ready to buy the arguments put forth by the civic body regarding the serious issue that has been haunting the city for quite a long time.“The waste treatment plant at Brahamapuram was built violating all the norms. As the land is marshy, it cannot support a huge plant and a report has already been submitted in this regard. The land is suitable only for farming and other related  projects. We do not have any issues, if the authorities want to start projects which are suitable for this swampy land,” district panchayat president Eldose Kunnappalli said.Eldose said the measures taken by the Kochi Corporation to set up a new plant modelled on the waste treatment plant at Coimbatore would not serve the purpose.“The situations in Kochi and Coimbatore are poles apart. The Coimbatore plant is running in a dry area whereas the Brahmapuram plant is situated in a wet land. How could you yoke the two in one,” he asks.He opined that another plant was not the panacea for the problems. Without taking any steps to resolve the serious issue, setting up of a new plant will only add to more woes for the people living in and around the Brahmapuram plant. “A huge amount of money and sacrifices by the people have gone down the drain. A village is on the verge of extinction owing to the serious health hazards it pose. This cannot be permitted at any cost,” he said.The Brahmapuram Solid Waste Treatment Plant is defunct and the whole area has started sinking.