The indecision over the management of the Brahmapuram Solid Waste Treatment Plant continues with the Kochi Corporation considering the option of assigning the task to an NGO. An earlier proposal for entrusting the task with a private agency was dropped, as it demanded a considerable amount for carrying out the repair works and running the plant. The corporation had been seeking some agencies for running the plant it had established with the support of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

The private agency demanded Rs.2.5 lakh a day for operating the plant, which was unaffordable for the civic body. Moreover, they didn’t have the expertise for running such a venture. The civic body cannot take the risk of assigning such an important responsibility to an inexperienced agency.The Brahmapuram issue has attained political overtones in the Corporation Council with the Congress-led opposition raking up the issue of faulty performance and defects that the machinery had developed.

The Opposition councillors had also staged a sit-in dharna outside the chamber of the Kochi Mayor last week demanding an inquiry by the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau into the setting up of the plant and related issues.Meanwhile, the corporation has initiated a discussion with Centre for Environment and Development, which is running a project for solid waste management in Thiruvananthapuram city. The agency was selected as the centre for excellence by the Ministry of Urban Development. It was also the regional resource agency of the Ministry of Environment and Forests and also the accredited agency of Kerala government for solid waste management and participatory resource mapping, according to its website.

The government has initiated a discussion for the Kochi Corporation with the agency.A political decision will have to be taken regarding the selection of the agency.The rates and other factors have not been discussed. The civic authorities hope that the agency may agree to run the plant on a no loss-no profit basis.