While the tender for the new solid waste treatment plant at Brahmapuram was floated on Tuesday by the state government through its State Sanitation Mission, experts continue to insist the unit which has an installed capacity to process 500 tonnes of waste a day, is too big for a city that generates only around 150 tonnes of garbage a day .
"Transporting waste from distant parts of the district to the plant will not be possible either, especially during the monsoon.
How can garbage from other areas like Kothamangalam and Muvattupuzha be brought to it?
If the civic bodies fail to collect and transport 500 tonnes of waste a day to the plant, the authorities will have to pay compensation to the company that runs it,” say corporation sources.
Transporting wet garbage from other municipalities could lead to pollution of roads and water if improperly handled, worry experts.
“ The authorities should instead promote small decentralised treatment facilities in various parts of the district.
Focus should be on treating waste at source, rather than on wasting crores of rupees on a mega centralised project,” feels P. Rangadasa Prabhu, president of Ernakulam District Residents’ Associations Apex Council.
The Malinya Nikshepa Virudha Samara Samithi, meanwhile, suggests there should be a proper system in place to monitor the new waste treatment plant to see that it works to the optimum.
"An expert monitoring committee should be constituted with members drawn from the Sanitation Mission and legal experts," says Abdul Basheer, general secretary of the samithi.