Kochi: The state govt has revived the waste-to-energy plant project and come up with a demand that the Kochi corporation should allot 8.5 acres at Brahmapuram for the purpose.
Earlier, govt and the local body had to scrap two proposals for setting up the plant following disputes.
“We got communication from Suchitwa Mission officials seeking us to hand over 8.5 acres. “To recover this amount, govt has been deducting more than Rs 16 crore from the plan fund allocation to the corporation for the past few years. During the tenure of the previous council, it had been decided to implement master plan activities worth Rs 706.55 crore to use the land and facilities at Brahmapuram in a more effective manner.
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However, the officials haven’t divulged many details,” mayor V K Minimol said. The corporation secretary should be a party to any agreement for setting up the plant, the mayor said. That is why the councillors oppose any move to hand over ownership of the land to any other agency,” Minimol said.
“The council has decided that the land can be given on lease after retaining the ownership with the local body. The corporation will decide the specific area where the land for the plant can be allotted. Many of the councillors raised apprehensions regarding the technology being used for operating the plant. We will seek clarity regarding this,” she added. The state govt can allocate funds to the corporation to operate the plant. The local body had to shell out a huge sum on repaying the amount given by govt for distributing compensation to the owners of land holdings taken over for the solid waste treatment plant premises at Brahmapuram. Even after the revenue department acquired land after distributing compensation, the landowners moved the court seeking additional compensation. So, the state govt had to spend the amount for paying additional compensation. This shows that the corporation is holding the land at Brahmapuram after paying huge funds. The master plan prepared jointly by Kerala Solid Waste Management Project and Suchitwa Mission included a refuse-derived fuel facility, a waste-to-energy plant, among others. Download the TOI App.
The corporation council held on Thursday decided to convey the local body’s stand regarding the project and seek more details from govt.