Corp signs biomining deal without quantifying waste

Kochi: Kochi corporation authorities signed an agreement with a private firm to biomine legacy waste without quantifying the garbage and without prior consent of the local body council. This has kicked up a controversy. The private firm already bio-mined around 7 lakh tonnes of legacy waste at Brahmapuram. According to corporation authorities, the quantity of waste which is yet to be biomined is still unknown. "An NIT team conducted a survey on March 6 to identify the exact quantity of garbage still remaining at Brahmapuram solid waste treatment plant premises. There was around 1.96 lakh tonne of waste left after the first phase of biomining. Besides that, there lies some more waste. So, the exact quantity of waste to be biomined can be known only after NIT submits its survey report," said mayor V K Minimol.According to opposition councillors, the mayor's act of giving approval to the agreement without corporation council's consent is undemocratic and suspicious. "When we discussed the matter in the council meeting, common understanding was that the biomining work could be awarded only after quantifying the waste. All of a sudden, mayor gave approval for signing an agreement with the private firm. She kept the corporation council in the dark," said V A Sreejith, opposition leader in Kochi corporation.Bhumi Green was already awarded the contract to biomine the legacy waste at Brahmapuram. Corporation authorities now entered into an agreement to bio-mine the remaining waste. The authorities prepared a supplementary agreement for the purpose. "In the first agreement, there was a clause that a supplementary agreement can be executed if an additional quantity of waste is to be treated. As per the supplementary agreement, we have to pay the cost of whatever quantity of waste is being biomined. We negotiated with the contractor and they have agreed to carry out biomining at Rs 1,672 per tonne," Minimol said.Also, there is an allegation that most waste, which is yet to be biomined, is biodegradable and can be treated at a very low cost. "After considering the emergency in completing the bio-mining, the company demanded high rates when the first agreement was signed. According to the private firm officials, there was a need to transport refuse-derived fuel (RDF), the byproduct of biomining, to cement manufacturing units in other states. It was bio-non degradable waste. They argued that transportation cost was very high and that caused an escalation in overall cost for biomining. The work for biomining around 7 lakh tonne of waste was at Rs 1,680 per tonne. Now, most remaining waste is biodegradable and so there won't be much quantity of RDF. Hene, the work of biomining the remaining waste could have been awarded to a competent firm at a much lower rate if fresh tenders were invited," said a source with Kochi corporation.