The risk of a fire outbreak stares at the Brahmpuram waste treatment plant, where huge quantities of waste have piled up.
Around 1,900 truckloads of waste have been indiscriminately dumped on the campus of the waste treatment plant of the Kochi Corporation, which could catch fire. Pipelines of the petroleum industry units run through the area, amplifying the risk.
It could pose a serious threat to life and property, fear civic administrators.
Waste from as many as 45 panchayats, which were ravaged by the recent floods, was dumped at the yard. It was following the intervention of the district administration that the civic body opened the doors of the plant site for dumping the waste.
Unsegregated waste was dumped all over the place, said V.K. Minimol, chairperson of the Health Standing Committee of the civic body.
Many of the panchayats, which had vacant land in their possession, appeared to have transported waste to Kochi. Considering the seriousness of the situation, the accumulated waste should be cleared through sanitary landfill, she said.
Power supply to the Brahmapuram plant, which was flooded on August 15, was resumed on Monday. Electrical installation and other power units had been damaged in the floods.
The electronic weighing machine was also damaged. It took time for identifying the damaged cables and repairing them, she said.
Diesel generators were brought in to run the plant and process biodegradable waste, she said.
Night squads
The civic administration is planning to introduce as many as 16 night patrolling squads to check illegal dumping of waste in the city limits. This follows the steep jump in the quantity of waste that has to be removed from the city streets.
The squads will be active from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. and fine will be slapped on offenders. The civic body collected ₹2.75 lakh as fine for illegal dumping of waste during the past nine days, said Ms. Minimol.