Kochi: A health survey will be held here to assess the impact of the toxic smoke from the Brahmapuram waste treatment plant which has been troubling the people for the past nine days.

Healthcare workers will conduct a door-to-door survey to identify those who have symptoms of health issues caused by the fire and smoke from the plant. Expert healthcare will be ensurred for the affected people.

The decision to conduct the survey was taken at a higher-level meeting convened by Health Minister Veena George in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.

The minister instructed the officials to ensure that adequate facilities are maintained at all hospitals in the district.

The health department has advised that people in vulnerable categories such as those with lungs and heart diseases, children, pregnant women and elderly people should stay indoors maximum to avoid being exposed to the toxic smoke. The minister on Friday reiterated the advice.

Hectic efforts have been on to extinguish the fire at Brahmapuram since it broke out on March 2. Several fire tenders, Indian Navy choppers and personnel as well as firefighting personnel and equipment from oil-PSUs Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, etc were deployed in the last few days to control the blaze and extinguish it.

State Industries Minister P Rajeeve and Local Self Governance Minister M B Rajesh visited the plant on Friday. The ministers said 80 per cent of the fire and smoke has been extinguished.  

'N95 not effective'
Meanwhile, the Indian Medical Association warned that the Brahmapuram smoke could cause health issues among the people exposed to it. The outfit urged the government to take permanent steps to avoid similar incidents in the future.

"Otherwise the healthcare sector will have to face unpredictable consequences," IMA Kochi unit president Dr S Srinivas Kammath and secretary Dr George Thukalan said in a statement.

The association said face masks like N95 are not effective in preventing the toxic gases emanating from burning plastic waste. 

"Toxic gases and chemicals including carbon in the smoke will affect the environment. They may reach water bodies and agriculture fields and are likely to reach human through food and drinking water. Such a situation should be avoided effectively," IMA scientific advisor Dr Rajeev Jayadevan said.