Kochi: The city corporation council on Tuesday approved Rs 1.35 crore for upgrading the existing solid waste treatment facility at Brahmapuram.
During a council meeting to sanction the Plan fund projects for 2015 – 2016 fiscal, Mayor Tony Chammany said that the existing building at Brahmapuram had been in a dilapidated condition and might collapse anytime.
“The civic body needs to set up a temporary facility for solid waste composting until the new plant proposed by the state government becomes operational. Rs. 1.35 crore has been allocated from the annual Plan funds for setting up a temporary building near the existing plant. The machinery being used for composting will be shifted to the new building,” he said.
The local body has decided to construct a new structure as the experts from Cochin University of Science and Technology recommended extensive piling for strengthening the existing plant which is very costly.
The estimated cost for modernising the structure was Rs. 15 crore. CPM councillor N.A. Shafeeq sought the details of fund allocation and renovation plans of the plant.
During the debate, town planning committee chairman K. J. Sohan remarked that all small projects having an estimated cost of Rs. 1 lakh should be removed from Plan fund utilisation.
“There are 1,100 projects and most of them are small worth Rs. 25, 000 or Rs. 30, 000. Such projects should be removed and the funds should be diverted to big projects of common purpose,” he said.
Meanwhile, CPM councillor M. Anil Kumar alleged that the claims of high utilisation of Plan funds in the last fiscal, more than 65 per cent, does not reflect the per cent of works.
“There has not been any improvement in the number of works completed when compared to previous years,” he said. After the debates, the council approved the projects for 2015 – 2016 fiscal.
