Being a port city, it has its own unique environmental features and cultural heritage.

Various projects were proposed in the previous Corporation budgets to preserves the city’s rich cultural heritage.

The Corporation’s annual budget for 2008-2009 had a proposal for an allocation of Rs 50 lakh to the Centre for Heritage, Environment and Development (C-HED) for its management. C-HED was asked to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) on various heritage projects. As the first step, C-HED prepared a DPR and submitted it to the Centre for listing it under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) projects. The proposal was repeated in the 2009-10 budget. In January 2010, one of the projects that was included in the heritage base map prepared by C-HED got the Centre’s nod -- the Rs 22-crore Broadway renovation project.

The project aims at heritage conservation, waste management, traffic management as well as vendor and street hawkers’ management at Broadway and Ernakulam market, the two busy shopping hubs in the city. Under the project, heritage road furniture will be built and public amenities like telephone booths, drinking water points and streetlights will be provided.

But the other promises made by the Corporation in its earlier budgets, including urban Renewal scheme for Vypeen Heritage Zone, Mattanchery Water Edge and Mattanchery Spices Museum, have reached nowhere.

The Corporation had also promised a modernised heritage centre at Mattanchery in three previous budgets. The plan was to renovate the existing ‘heritage centre’ at Paravana Junction for the convenience of foreign tourists. The design for a seven-storeyed building with enough parking space was also prepared. But the project did not materialise and the existing building is lying unattended.

“While preparing the budget, the officials were aware that many of these projects are not easy to implement. They are simply an eyewash. These projects are likely to figure in this year’s budget too,” said a Corporation official.

But the promise made in the previous budget to install a refuse derived fuel (RDF) unit at Brahmapuram remains unfulfilled.

By setting up an RDF plant plastic waste can be recovered and separated into light plastic and heavy plastic.

Light plastic is further processed into plastic film while heavy plastic is processed into RDF.

With the State Government recently allotting Rs 80 crore to the Kochi Corporation to acquire the remaining 45.30 acres of land for expanding the Brahmapuram plant, there are indications that the civic body will be keen to carry out the project this year.

Currently the vacant plots at the Brahmapuram plant are used for storing plastic and non-biodegradable waste generated in the city.

It is impossible to treat plastic without an RDF plant.

And plastic waste has started piling up at the site.

Though the Corporation had promised that stocking of non-degradable waste would be carried out without causing any inconvenience to the public, the recent fire breakout at Brahmapuram proves that it has failed to take any precautionary measure at the plant.

Nearly 15 locals were hospitalised after inhaling hazardous smoke that emanated from burning plastic materials.

The authorities say that they are taking steps for the speedy completion of the RDF plant.

At present the Brahmapuram plant is being operated on 63.96 acres. With the State Government providing funds for acquiring the rest of the land, the Corporation can now use the land to set up RDF and plastic recycling plants.

Funds are not a problem for the Corporation. But it is yet to be seen whether these plants will become operational this year itself.