Kochi’s waste dump fire is a shame

A volcano of garbage has been spewing toxic gases and foul smell for over a week now in Kochi after a waste dump caught fire, by design or accident. The authorities have failed to put out the raging fire at the dump in Brahmapuram though they have tried all means, including spraying water from helicopters. It is no small dump hill but a 130-acre mountain of solid waste of all kinds brought there daily from the city and neighbouring towns and villages. Some residents in the immediate vicinity of the waste plant have left their homes, and those in the city and neighbouring places are choking. Many offices and most schools in a 50-100 sq km area have been closed. With the fumes and smell emanating from the burning of plastic and other materials and from the chemical reactions of wastes pervading the entire area, the waste treatment plant has become a major health hazard. Many people have sought medical assistance and treatment.

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The reasons for the disaster are familiar. The company which was awarded the contract for treatment of the waste, including for bio-mining, did not do its job well. There are charges that the company was not qualified to do the job and did not have enough experience to do it. The state’s ruling coalition and the Opposition have blamed each other for the situation because both of them have ruled the Kochi corporation in the past 15 years when the treatment plant was set up and operationalised. Brahmapuram has a history of award of contracts, cancellations, funding problems, interventions by the National Green Tribunal and the Pollution Control Board, and penalties imposed on the corporation. The Kerala High Court has suo moto taken up the matter, summoned the officials, and sought to give instructions. The corporation told the court that such fires were occurring all over the world, and the district collector, who did not appear before the court in answer to the summons, was transferred. The court ordered that waste management and handling rules should be strictly implemented before the World Environment Day on June 5, but clearly the matter is too complex and difficult to be resolved by a judicial order.

It is complex and difficult because certain simple norms and rules were not followed. Dry and wet waste which are segregated by residents at home get mixed up when they reach the treatment plant. The waste collection, disposal and treatment procedures and processes are all faulty and marked by lack of supervision and monitoring, and by corruption and mismanagement. This is the case in most cities in the rest of the country, too, except a rare Indore or Pune.