The Local Self Government department (LSGD) has constituted a committee to monitor biomining at the dumping yard of the Kochi Corporation at Brahmapuram.
An order issued by the department on December 21 said the panel would comprise a senior engineer of the Kerala State Pollution Control Board, Director of Suchitwa Mission (Solid Waste Management), a professor of the School of Environmental Studies at the Cochin University of Science and Technology, and Superintending Engineer at the Kochi Corporation. The Chief Engineer of the LSGD will be the convener of the committee.
The panel will carry out periodic monitoring of biomining, which was awarded to a Pune-based firm in November after the initial attempt to clear legacy waste failed to achieve target.
In a letter dated June 14, 2023, the department had asked the Corporation to terminate the contract for biomining awarded to Zonta Infratech Private Limited, which had come under criticism for its poor handling of legacy waste at the site following the massive fire in March.
The decision to annul the work was taken after it was found that the agency had failed to remove refuse-derived fuel from the site as per conditions laid out in the agreement with the Corporation.
Though a technical committee was formed then to oversee the work, it did not have much role except for issuing a few suggestions before the start of the work. The department had taken a serious view of the shortcomings in the monitoring process. The new panel has been told to carry out a periodic assessment of the work as per conditions in the agreement.
The processing fee for each tonne of waste will be ₹1,690. The agency has to complete the work on its own and cannot sublet it to others.
