Brahmapuram fire will be put out by tomorrow afternoon: Kochi Corporation to Kerala High Court

Residents of Kochi city in Kerala may soon have some reprieve from the toxic smog and fumes that have engulfed the city over the past week due to a fire that broke out at the Brahmapuram garbage dump and waste plant located at the eastern edge of the city. [Suo Motu v State of Kerala & Ors.]

The Secretary of the Kochi Municipal Corporation, Babu Abdul Khadeer, personally appeared before the Kerala High Court today and informed the Court that as per reports from the staff who are on site, the fire which started on March 2 will be put out completely by the afternoon of March 8.

This submission was recorded by a division bench of Justices SV Bhatti and Basant Balaji in the suo motu petition that the Court had initiated in connection with the fire.

"The Secretary, referring to the inputs received from the field staff at the site makes a statement that fire is completely brought under control and would be put out by 100%. He desires to place before the court a status report and being the Secretary of the Municipal Corporation, is willing to participate in the ongoing proceedings for proper implementation of Solid Waste Management and Handling Rules 2016. We place on record his effort and statement," the court said in its order.

The chairperson of the State Pollution Control Board, Pradeep Kumar, also appeared before the bench, albeit on video conference, and submitted that the Board had issued show cause notice to the Corporation with regard to intiating prosecution and recovering compensation.

The bench, however, opined that this is not the appropriate stage for the same and said that the underlying issues must first be addressed before placing blame.

"We are not interested in playing the blame game. Let us not exhume the past or waste our future," Justice SV Bhatti orally remarked.

The same was recorded in its order as follows:

"The directives issued by the Pollution Control Board are brought to our notice including the delegation of power now accorded to one of the officers of the Pollution Control Board to initiate prosecution against the persons violating the law. We take note of it. Adverting to the prosecution for present, we make it clear that we do not want parties to get into a parallel litigation without actually addressing the proper issue which is the very essence of the suo motu case. If any person has committed a breach of law, that can be taken care of at the appropriate stage of these proceedings. However, this observation will not stop the Pollution Control Board from completing the formalities viz., issue of notice, required to be undertaken before initiating the prosecution."

Tge Court had taken suo motu cognizance regarding the toxic haze and smog in Kochi due to a fire at the Brahmapuram garbage dump and waste plant located.

The fire which began last week at the waste plant at Brahmapuram had led to a drastic dip in air quality in the coastal city.

Today's proceedings in the suo motu case before the High Court were split into two. The bench first took up the matter when it presided at 10:15 in the morning session.

The bench stated that the matter was taken up at direction of Chief Justice based on news clipping on the smoke clouds emanating from Brahmapuram. It concurred with the submission of the Advocate General (AG) of Kerala, Senior Advocate Gopalakrishna Kurup K, that the proceedings need not be adversarial.

It then directed the secretary and chairperson of the Corporation and Pollution Control Board (PCB) respectively to appear before it at 1:45pm.

In the afternoon, the bench heard the two officials.

The standing counsel for the PCB said that only 27% of the legacy waste had been bio-remediated even though the timeline to complete the same had expired a while ago.

However, the bench directed the PCB to submit more details before it considers such aspects since the focus would currently be on containment of the fire.

The bench then highlighted two issues which it opined contribute to the problem.

The first, it said, is the manner in which the Solid Waste Management and Handling Rules, 2016 are implemented.

"We have seen the magnitude of problem. In a of areas, officers have a lot of restrictions. Now we are not using adjectives for these restrictions but they are being rendered powerless in some areas to carry out their duties," Justice Bhatti orally remarked.

In its order, the bench said that the implementation of the Rules cannot be done without synergy between the various local bodies.

"The State of Kerala claims to be a Number :1 in literacy in the Centre. This Bench would like to know whether the State of Kerala would like to be Number 1 in protecting the environment and implementing Solid Waste Management Handling Rules. This cannot be accomplished by a parcel of accomplishment either in a Corporation or a Municipality or a Grama Panchayath," the Court stated.

The other issue that the bench felt was important was the deterioration of the water bodies in Kerala.

Justice Bhatti recalled that when he visited Ashtamudi lake several years ago, he only had time to stay for 1 hour but ended up sitting at its banks for over 4 hours. But when he returned more recently, he could not even manage to stay for an hour due to the waste that had accumulated in the lake and the noxious fumes from it.

To address both issues, a holistic approach would be needed, the bench opined.

"There are enough number of water bodies in the State of Kerala and no one is listening to their plight. All water bodies are getting converted as dump sites. This possibility can be prevented when all the local authorities concerned with protecting the water bodies are issued proper directions," the interim order stated.

The bench proceeded to implead some more parties that it opined would be necessary to the proceedings and decided to take the matter up again tomorrow, March 8.

[Read Order]