It’s been more than a decade and nothing has been done about the Brahmapuram Waste-management plant or the mountains of waste around it.
Being called a ‘Kochi kaaran/kaari’ is something that people all around Kochi take immense pride in. From a well maintained metro service to the freakin’ Lulu mall, the people of Kochi have it all. Yet there is one historical landmark in Kochi that often goes unrecognized by the people, probably because of its huge guilt-causing factor. This landmark has not only uprooted the lives of the people around it, but has also become a gross symbol of the consequences of an inactive and uncaring government institution. Presenting the Brahmapuram Waste Management Plant, or more precisely, the dumping site of all the waste in Kochi since Narendra Modi became the Chief minister of Gujarat for the second time.
It is a sad yet true fact that most people in Kochi barely know anything about the Brahmapuram issue. It started all the way back in 1998 when the Cochin Corporation purchased 37.33 acres of land in Brahmapuram, in order to build a waste-management plant. It is important to know that this land was once a flood plain, lying between the Kadambrayar and the Chithrapuzha river. The wasteland that Brahmapuram is today, was once upon a time a lush, green paddy field.
Dr. Nirmala Padmanabhan, an Associate Professor at St. Teresa’s college and the Head of the Bhoomitra Sena club, talks about her experience when she visited the wasteland a few years ago. “The Brahmapuram plant is very badly managed with mountains of waste piling on top of one another. The stinking smell is just one of the many distinct characteristics of the place. You can also see how much the wasteland is polluting the Kadambrayar river that runs along it,” she says. The Kadambrayar river is the main source of drinking water for many of the institutions in and around Brahmapuram.
The commission for building a waste-management plant that would process 200 tonnes of waste per day, became a reality only after nine years, in 2007. And almost immediately, the plant was declared defunct in 2011. That’s record time for a government undertaken project to fall flat on its face, don’t you think? By 2016, the plant continued to be defunct and finally caught the attention of the National Green Tribunal. The NGT ordered the Cochin Corporation to take remedial measures and restore the facility, and as expected, nothing was done.
Dr. C.M Joy, a retired Associate Professor of SH college and a passionate environmentalist, talks about the dire consequences it had on the people who lived in and around the area. “Unable to bear the stench and fumes arising from the heaps of garbage, almost 67 families were forced to sell their homes and land at cheap rates and move out. They were, perhaps, first of the many people in our state who would come to be known as ‘environmental refugees’,” he says.
The wake up call for the Cochin Corporation to do something about the Brahmapuram issue probably came with the 1 crore fine that the NGT slapped on them in 2018 for non-compliance of its 2016 order. Things started stirring up a little when GJ Eco Power Private Ltd. was entrusted with a Rs. 295 crore project that involved converting waste to energy. This was huge news and the newly appointed company vowed to finish the project by 2021. But Brahmapuram has always been famous for its broken promises. The very next year, the government cancelled its contract with GJ Eco Power, citing financial constraints.
Since 2012, Brahmapuram has contained the trash of 5 municipalities – Aluva, Angamaly, Kalamassery, Thrikkakara and Tripunithura – and two panchayats- Cheranalloor and Vadavucode-Puthencruz. All in all, the Brahmapuram wasteland receives almost 383 tonnes of waste every day.
Now it’s not like private organizations haven’t offered to process the waste little by little. Last year, the Pelican Foundation had proposed to take away the waste at Rs. 2.20 per kg, but this was shot down by the Corporation, which blamed an ineffectual government directive that banned parallel waste treatment. Plus, they didn’t want to give away any of their waste, in case they run out of the raw material required to be converted into energy.
According to Dr. C.N. Manoj, the CEO of Pelican Foundation, the people of Kochi themselves are only to blame for this disaster. “I would not hold the Cochin Corporation responsible as it is actually just a representation of the people of Kochi themselves. If every household in Kochi segregated their waste and set up a compost unit, the amount of waste which is being dumped in Brahmapuram, would decrease substantially,” he says.
So what is the latest news on the issue? Well, plans for biomining were in the making in early 2021, with Zonta Infratech Pvt Ltd and Bauer GmbH, Germany being chosen as the consortium. But just like what had happened with GJ Eco Power, the quoted cost of Rs. 54 crore has been declared too high and the consortium, too inexperienced, to execute the project.
The Cochin Corporation has, however, promised to implement a set of plans this year, from a Detailed Project Report on the Septage treatment plant, to the building of a storage shed for waste treatment. All in all, more than Rs. 10 crore has been allocated for the implementation of all these plans. But with what we have seen so far, Vijay Mallya has a better chance of going to jail than Brahmapuram having a fully-functioning and efficient waste treatment plant anytime soon.
