Thiruvananthapuram: Plastic waste storage catches fire

Thiruvananthapuram: A Resource Recovery Centre (RRC) at Sasthamangalam was reduced to ashes on Thursday morning. Plastic collected from houses in the ward over one and a half months caught fire. A case has been registered with Peroorkada Police Station. Sasthamangalam ward councillor Bindu Sreekumar suspects that someone lit the plastic pile on purpose. “The RRC does not have an electric connection. So chances for short circuit are ruled out. The road leads to the river, and there are no houses here. No one would have taken the road, unless they purposely wanted to come here,” she says.

She was informed by someone who lives in the neighbourhood around 7.45 am. Here, non-biodegradable waste, primarily plastic and glass, used to be segregated and stored, before it would be taken for recycling. Normally, after two or three months, there would be up to 4 loads of plastic. It is estimated that repairing the damaged structure would cost close to Rs 2 lakhs, according to C N Manoj, founder, Pelican Foundation.

The foundation is the Corporation’s service provider in Sasthamangalam ward to carry out waste management. Manoj says that they have suffered a loss of Rs 15,000, as they have lost innoculum and buckets in the fire.  This is the only RRC in the Corporation which is not owned by the civic body. The land is owned by Kerala Water Authority.