Kochi: Kochi Corporation council on Saturday has recommended vigilance probe into the recent fire at its Brahmapuram solid waste treatment plant. During a council meeting, Mayor Soumini Jain announced that the civic body will urge the state government to order for an inquiry by the Vigilance and anti-corruption Bureau into the fire incident.
The heaps of plastic garbage caught fire on February 15, the sixth incident in couple of months.
"It was found that the surveillance cameras were functioning till 12 noon just an hour before the mishap. It went off when the fire broke out and two hours after the incident cameras resumed functioning. When checked it was found that even the data in the hard disk of the cameras has been found manipulated. This proves that there was sabotage behind the incident. Though complaint has been submitted with the police, there isn't any progress in the probe,said Ms. Jain.
Even after reviewing the visual from the CCTV cameras, the civic authorities couldn't find any clues pointing to the involvement of any miscreants setting the waste on fire. The civic body is still clueless on the cause of frequent fire incidents and even the camera footage could not prove any unusual activities in the plant.
After the series of fire incidents, the civic body had to stop waste removal to the plant for more than a week, due to widespread protest from residents of Vadavukodu - Puthencruz panchayat where the plant is located. Waste removal has been resumed after the district collector intervened. The Corporation has stepped up safety measures in the plant including installation of more CCTV cameras and appointment of more security personnel. Still, it couldn't prevent the recurring fire incidents.
