The Kochi Corporation authorities will soon convey their concern 
over the delay in the construction of new Solid Waste Treatment Plant at
Brahmapuram to the state government.

Though the government had
entrusted the Kerala Suchitwa Mission the task of implementing the
project, it is yet to take-off. The delay has resulted in the
Corporation drawing flak from the Opposition in the recently held 
post-budget sessions.

In the wake of the recent fire breakout and
the delay in project implementation, the Corporation authorities are now
looking into the possibilities of implementing the project on their own
with the support of the state government.

“We have discussed the
possibilities of floating an Express of Interest  (EoI) for the
construction of the plant. If the state is willing, we can carry forward
the project,” said Kochi corporation Health Standing committee chairman
T K Ashraf.

Earlier, the Suchitwa Mission had floated the tenders
for the construction of the plant. But the bids submitted by the three
agencies (L1, L2 and L3) were rejected by an expert committee citing
that the proposals were unrealistic. As per the actual plan, the
proposed plant, which will be set up at Brahmapuram at a higher plain
adjacent to the existing plant, will have a capacity to treat 300 tonnes
of solid waste materials per day. The plant will be constructed totally
in public-private participation (PPP) mode on a  BoT basis
(build-operate-transfer).

“But the delay in finalising the bids
have created apprehensions among the Councillors. The state government
had earlier announced that a commercial venture will also be launched at
the Brahmapuram area along with the new Plant. This will help in
winning the confidence of local bodies  and hope they will support our
plan to set up a new plant,” Ashraf added.

He said the plan for setting up a plant by their own will only materialise if the civic body get the support from state.

“We will convey our apprehensions to the officials concerned and are expecting a favourable decision in this regard,” he added.