Kochi: It will take at least two days to stop the smoke emanating from the garbage at the Brahmapuram waste treatment plant here which was engulfed by a massive fire.
District Collector Dr Renu Raj announced the expected deadline to put out the smoke completely after visiting a medical camp opened by the District Medical office at Brahmapuram to ensure the healthcare of the firefighters who have been working at the site for the past six days.
The district collector said no serious health issues due to the smoke have been reported yet. She advised that those with lung diseases, children below 12 and pregnant women should be cautious.
The officer said aggressive efforts to put out the fire and smoke were on. "Attempts are now on to contain the smoke. The works are progressing using 30 fire tenders and 12 Hitachi machinery. Fire and Rescue Services personnel from other districts have also been deployed. Teams of the Navy and Air Force (IAF) are also engaged in the mission," the collector said in a press statement on Tuesday.
Water is pumped into the heaps of garbage after shoving it using machines. In circumstances where it is difficult to contain the smoke from below, water is sprayed from above using helicopters of the Navy and IAF. The collector said only trained professionals could carry out the work.
Earlier in the day, the Kerala High Court said Kochi has become a "gas chamber" due to the toxic smoke generated by the fire at the Brahmapuram waste plant and asked the authorities whether the blaze can be extinguished by Wednesday afternoon.
The observations by a bench of Justices S V Bhatti and Basant Balaji came during the hearing of a petition initiated by the High Court on its own based on a letter by Justice Devan Ramachandran regarding the fire which has been burning at the site since March 2.
During the hearing of the matter in the morning, the bench said that the people of Kochi were "trapped in a gas chamber" like situation even though there were no industries in the city.
The bench directed the authorities to place before it a detailed report on what has to be done to address the prevailing situation in the city and also the issue of waste management in the long term.
During the hearing, the corporation claimed that such fires were occurring across the country and that the blaze at the waste plant was completely extinguished.
The Kerala Pollution Control Board blamed the corporation for the pollution levels in Kochi. It said the corporation was not following the directions issued by the board.
The court said there was no point in the authorities blaming one another and instead they should also work together to find a solution to the problem.
(With inputs from PTI)