Brahmapuram fire: Climate Crisis triggered by improper management of waste
ESG Briefings by Lodha & Co LLP
ESG Research and Knowledge sharing Platform
On March 2, a fire broke out in Kochi's Brahmapuram dumping yard. The
garbage yard, which is spread across approximately 110-acres of land,
included a large amount of plastic waste. The fire kept smoldering over the
following 12 days, casting a noxious cloud over Kerala's commercial city.
While initiating suo motu proceedings for the incident at the Brahmapuram
garbage facility, the National Green Tribunal's major bench on Friday asked
the Kochi Municipal Council of Kerala to pay an environmental compensation
of Rs 100 crore under Section 15 of the Tribunal Act for environmental
damage.
The facility collects all garbage, both biodegradable and non-biodegradable,
from Kochi and adjacent towns. Non-biodegradable garbage is heaped up at
the site while biodegradable waste is processed in the facility. Locals had
often accused the corporation of igniting the waste rather than handling it
scientifically.
This openly discarded garbage contained combustible materials such as lowquality plastics, which have a greater calorific value of nearly 2,500-3,000 kcal/kg (compared to around 8,000 kcal/kg for coal), as well as rags and
textiles. Throughout the summer, the biodegradable part composts
significantly quicker, raising the temperature of the heap to above 70-80° C,
which may be a contributory factor to the fire at this dump. The presence of
flammable compounds enhances the danger of fire in open dump sites due to
the anaerobic breakdown which releases methane gas out of refuse. Surface
and subsurface fires are common in such locations.
This was not Brahmapuram's first landfill fire. According to studies conducted
by the CSIR-National Institute for Multidisciplinary Science and Technology in
2019 and 2020, several fires emitted very harmful compounds into their
surroundings; these substances are also likely to have been produced in this
fire.
According to research conducted by the National Institute for Interdisciplinary
Science and Technology (NIIST), a low level of cancer risk persists in the
exposed community due to the emission of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins
(PCDD/Fs) and dibenzofurans from inadvertent solid waste open fires. Dioxins
are a type of very carcinogenic persistent organic pollutant that is released
through combustion operations such as waste incineration and open solid
biomass burning. Because substantial amounts of PM10 and PM2.5 were reported, the pollutants emitted by this fire incidence have caused various health
complications among the inhabitants. In the days following the fire, the Air
Quality Index (AQI) in Kochi dropped. The smoke has caused symptoms such as
respiratory problems, headaches, coughing and colds, drowsiness, and eye
discomfort.
The yard resides in a land-filled wetlands next to a river that supplies drinking
water to a few panchayats nearby, and leaching from the waste has already
poisoned the Kadambrayar river. More than a half-dozen municipal
governments dump their garbage at the landfill.
The Brahmapuram dumpsite was an unsuccessful windrow composting facility
and a waste-to-energy plant that had yet to commence operations. The
Brahamapuram solid waste facility is a windrow composting plant placed in a
paved floor with a roofed structure with open sides. This structure had
partially collapsed and constituted a safety threat. Board officials who visited
the facility in February noted that all the windrow sheds were in disarray.
Hard slurry coming from the windrow compost yards and the principal
biodegradable dumping location clogged the drains supplied. When agency
officials claimed that work on drains around the plant was nearly finished, it
was discovered that the drains were partially open, with the possibility of
slurry flowing out from open dumping sites as well as storm water
encroachment into the drains. The windrow compost plant should be
appropriately enclosed and protected with enough covering, according to the
Solid Waste Management Guidelines.
The PCB (Pollution Control Board) discovered that there was no windrow
creation strategy. The windrow size was not followed. Because the entire site
had been overfilled with legacy waste, it was difficult to follow a scientific
windrow pattern or windrow turning pattern.
The Kerala government reported the NGT in May last year that Zonta Infra
Tech Private Limited had begun the process of 'biomining' — separation and
conversion of old dump yard waste into reusable resources — at
Brahmapuram in January 2022, and that 28% of the work had been completed
by May. But, with the proposal to build a new waste-to-energy plant at the
site, which would need a steady supply of massive amounts of garbage, the
Kochi Municipal Council sat back and neglected to guarantee that the fire
hydrants at the yard remained operational. This, along with the noxious smoke
emitted by the waste mounds, proved to be an additional blow for the
rescuers.
Inadequate waste management contributes directly to climate change by
introducing carbon-based particles into the atmosphere. As a result, warmer
air is produced, resulting in a devastating greenhouse effect. The thick black
smoke from the fire blanketed the facility's surroundings, raising the
temperature a few Celsius.
Pollutants spewed by the open fire have damaged the ecosystem and the
residents who reside adjacent. Toxic material inhalation may cause a large
increase in respiratory illnesses, and symptoms may endure for a long period.
This tragedy has had a significant impact on the normal functioning of society
as a result of poor governance by the people in authority. Despite the
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frequency of such occurrences in the past, no waste management action has
been initiated to guarantee effective waste management.
Inadequate management of municipal solid waste results in air and water
pollution, land degradation, climate change, and methane and toxic leachate
emissions. Moreover, these effects impose major environmental and public
health costs on inhabitants, with marginalized socioeconomic classes bearing
the brunt of the burden.
Many global operating agendas, charters, and visions highlight the need of
waste management in attaining sustainable development. Sustainable solid
waste management, for example, can aid in the achievement of several United
Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including ensuring clean
water and sanitation (SDG6), developing sustainable cities and inclusive
communities (SDG11), mitigating climate change (SDG13), protecting life on
land (SDG15), and demonstrating sustainable consumption and production
patterns (SDG12). It also supports a circular urban economy, which
encourages resource conservation, material reuse, and recycling for waste
elimination, pollution reduction, cost savings, and green growth.
Cities can design and implement an integrated solid waste management
approach that focuses on improving municipal operations to handle all phases
of solid waste management in a sustainable manner: generation, separation,
transportation, transfer/sorting, treatment, and disposal. Life Cycle
Assessment (LCA) can also help with method selection and waste management
planning.
To accomplish circular economy and sustainable development goals, local
governments should effectively implement and design waste management
regulations that emphasize waste reduction, reuse, and recycling.
Employing environmentally friendly technology or upgrading existing facilities
can aid in the preservation of critical natural resources such as flora and
fauna, surface and subterranean water, air, and soil.
The extraction and reuse of materials, energy, and nutrients is critical because
it offers employment, improves people's health, and preserves the
environment. According to one research, recycling 24% of solid waste in
Thailand reduced the negative health, social, environmental, and economic
implications of landfills. Green consumption, such as the use of bioplastics,
can help lessen the negative environmental implications of solid waste.
Municipal authorities should address waste management challenges
holistically, such as a lack of strategic plans, inefficient waste
collection/segregation and recycling, insufficient budgets, a shortage of
qualified waste management professionals, and weak governance, before
forming an integrated financial regulatory framework. Other elements that
influence waste management effectiveness include waste creation rate,
population density, economic state, amount of business activity, culture, and
city/region. A sustainable solid waste management system can be successful
to safeguard both human health and the environment, if implemented.
References
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/thiruvananthapuram/brahmapura
m-fire-ngt-rs-100-crore-penalty-kochi-municipal-corporation-8504708/
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/playing-with-fire-the-hindueditorial-
on-the-brahmapuram-fire-and-how-kerala-needs-to-have-arelook-
at-its-waste-processing/article66638467.ece
https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/brahmapuram-fireenvironmental-
disaster-was-waiting-hit-kochi-174474
https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kerala/2023/03/16/pollution-crisisbrahmapuram-
waste-yard-csir-pollution-control-board.html
https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kerala/2023/03/16/brahmapuramfire-
poisoned-kochi-food-testing-pollution-pinarayi-vijayan.html
https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/brahmapuram-fire-invitessocial-
legal-implications/article66588508.ece
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/kochis-brahmapuram-a-dumpfire-
that-raises-a-stink/article66638572.ece
https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/explainedwhy-
do-landfills-catch-fire-and-what-can-we-do-aboutthem/
article66618251.ece#:~:text=In%20summer%2C%20the%20biodegra
dable%20fraction,to%20go%20on%20for%20months
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1 年I don't feel like clicking the 'like' button here. The post is very critical and important. Such waste mismanagement impacts human and non-human lives in the neighbourhood area - people can't even breathe. And this is just an eye opener for other local bodies across the country for taking immediate action for better waste management. All Local bodies, pl take quick action..