The Kerala Assembly on Monday witnessed chaos, as the Opposition boycotted the proceedings over denial of adjournment motion on the Brahmapuram Waste Plant fire.
Opposition parties including the Congress, and the Union Democratic Front (UDF) alleged that the fire was the biggest man-made disaster in the southern state.
Opposition leader V D Satheeshan said the Opposition boycotted the assembly because the government was not ready to make an investigation against the allegations against them on the fire.
“There was a criminal act in Brahmapuram plant. The LSGD minister was justifying the contractors and he was making a presentation for the contractors. We wanted a CBI enquiry because the ministers and govt are justifying the contractors. An investigation inside Kerala won’t be just. So we demand a CBI enquiry," Satheeshan said.
Satheeshan said that it has been 12 days since the fire broke out, and that the government is saying that it’s under control.
“I have a picture with me which is send 10 mins back, it shows that fire is still there. It’s is poisonous gas, that is not just in the city areas but in the rural areas and neighbouring districts," Satheeshan added.
Talking about the harmful ramifications of the fire, Satheeshan said that the smoke has dioxin, along with lakhs of tones of burning plastic and that this could lead to health issues like cancer, infertility, respiratory issues among other.
Satheeshan asked what has the government done for crisis management after the disaster.
On the other hand, Kerala Health Minister Veena George said that the fire is almost doused in the area. “The PM (particulate matter ) 2.5 reported yesterday was 185 and today it is 139. Which means the air quality has improved,” George said.
For crisis management, George said that two oxygen parlours are on the spot from March 4 and that in the last 10 days, at least 851 people have been treated at hospitals.
Apart from this, five mobile clinics of government and private hospitals will be available in Kochi.
LSGD minister M B Rajesh said that the fire should not become a political slugfest and the Opposition and the ruling party should work together to solve the ongoing crisis.
“What is the biggest lesson that Brahmapuram gives us, it is to find scientific solution for waste management in Kerala. The primary responsibility is with the local bodies . These local bodies are ruled by both our fronts. The waste was dumped there not just from Kochi corporation limit but from 7 nearby municipalities. I don’t intend to ask during whose rule this decision was taken," Rajesh said.
Rajesh added that the air quality in Kochi is 139 meanwhile the air quality in Delhi was at 223. That’s when people coming here from Delhi are saying they can breathe. In reality the situation is that if they want to breathe they have to come here .There is false propaganda about the situation saying that the air quality in Kochi is worse that Delhi."
Meanwhile, former opposition leader and MLA Ramesh Chennithala asked for a formal enquiry into the fire, and that how the tender was given to a company that did not have an prior experience in this kind of waste management.
To this, Rajesh replied that right now there is an enquiry about the fire and once the report comes the facts will come .
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