Aafrin Kidwai 
In Kerala, a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan decided not to transport plastic to the Brahmapuram waste treatment plant and to treat organic waste at the source instead. The Kochi corporation will collect plastic waste, segregate it and hand it over to the Clean Kerala Company or recyclers.
The windrow composting system will be repaired to treat organic waste at the source. An empowered committee will monitor the works, an awareness campaign will be launched, and the transportation facility to the Brahmapuram plant will be improved, reports The New Indian Express.
Brahmapuram Plant Fire: A Brief Timeline
- A massive fire occurred at the Brahmapuram waste plant in Kochi, as reported by the Southern Naval Command on March 2.
- On the same day, active fire zones covering 110-acre yards were doused with over 5,000 liters of water.
- 31 earth-moving machines and high-pressure water pumps were utilized over the next few days to control the fire.
- When the ground operations proved ineffective due to wind direction, Naval helicopters were dispatched to the site.
It took approximately a week to get the fire under control. The mayor of the town, Mr. Anil Kumar, informed news agency ANI that the dump yard has experienced periodic fires since 2012.
During a hearing on Wednesday, the Kerala High Court requested a detailed report from the Ernakulam District Collector (DC) regarding the situation at the plant. The Collector’s lawyer revealed that the DC had cautioned the city corporation to be wary due to the increasing temperatures three days prior to the fire outbreak. However, the Kochi Corporation claimed that they had the situation under control. It was also revealed that another fire had occurred on Tuesday night but was extinguished.
