Leachate plant machinery lying idle

Equipment brought down from Pune — worth around Rs.10 lakh — as part of the construction of a leachate treatment plant at the Vilappilsala solid-waste treatment plant has been lying idle inside the Corporation office compound in the city for the past two days. The equipment, which includes among other things a grid chamber, an industrial blower, a generator set, and cables, was brought to the city from Pune on Friday. However, it could not be transported to the plant owing to the agitation now on at Vilappilsala. “We do not know what to do about this now. We asked the contractors to bring the equipment after discussing it with the State government. The government asked us to go ahead with the work in the light of the High Court's interim verdict. However, now they seem to have given up on the plant,” said Mayor K. Chandrika. The construction of the leachate treatment plant, which is in its final stage, is being done by a Pune-based company. The project, funded under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), is supervised by the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project (KSUDP) cell of the Corporation. “This is the final load of equipment required to complete the construction of the plant. If the work can be resumed, the plant will be completed within a month. However, in the present situation we cannot transport the equipment to Vilappilsala,” a KSUDP official said. In a mass agitation spearheaded by the Vilappilsala Janakeeya Samithi, the Corporation garbage trucks were blocked from entering the plant earlier last week, despite a High Court order. The court had in its interim order, issued on January 23, directed the State government to provide police protection for transporting garbage from the city to the plant. Keywords: Leachate plant machinery