Brahmapuram turns Minister Rajesh’s waste management pitch as 75% of biomining completes

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Kochi: Minister for Local Self Governments and Excise M B Rajesh on Monday said that the works on the compressed biogas (CBG) plant at Brahmapuram waste dumping yard will be completed by March end. The Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) is setting up the CBG plant as part of the measures initiated by the state government to address the city’s waste management worries.
Brahmapuram had exposed the systemic faults in the city’s waste management after a fire broke out in the heaps of waste accumulated in the yard in March 2023.
The minister said the government looked at the Brahmapuram fire incident as an opportunity to create a waste-free Kerala. He was speaking to media after visiting the dumping yard and assessing the progress of the works there.
The minister said the government had promised to make Brahmapuram a blooming garden after the fire disaster. “There were many who ridiculed us then, but we are set to realise that promise,” he said. He said 75% of biomining, the process of sorting and removing legacy waste accumulated in an area over the years, has been completed in the dumping yard. “Of the 8,43,000 tonnes of garbage which had heaped in the yard, 6,08,325 tonne has been removed. Eighteen acres of land have been recovered through this process. It comes around 46% of the total 39 acres,” he said. The CBG plant is coming up the newly cleared space.
The minister also played cricket on a pitch made in the cleared space and planted a tree sapling on the premises.
The minister said the works on the BPCL plant was progressing “in record pace”. The plant, once completed, will have the capacity to process 150 tonnes of biodegradable waste a day and produce 15 tonnes of biogas. The gas will be taken to the BPCL refinery for its use through pipeline.
Once the Kochi project is completed, similar plants will be set up in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode.
P V Sreeninjin MLA, Kochi Mayor M Anilkumar, LSGD Special Secretary T V Anupama and District Collector NSK Umesh were with the minister during his visit.