Vigilance seizes 3 vehicles at Brahmapuram plant

KOCHI: The officials of the Vigilance department with the support of the police seized  three  vehicles carrying red earth for land- filling at the city corporation’s Brahmapuram solid waste treatment plant on Thursday. The Vigilance action came after the residents of the area blocked the trucks near the Brahmapuram power plant. The matter was  reported to the Vigilance officials by the members of Janakeeya Samrakshana Samithi formed against the plant.

The protesters alleged that the civic body was  trying to misguide the advocates’ commission of the National Green Tribunal which will visit the yard on September 20 and 21. “The civic body is trying to give a clean image of the plant to the NGT commission and establish that no huge quantity of waste is piled up at the yard,” the residents alleged. Land-filling at the plant is an attempt to thwart the ongoing Vigilance probe against the plant, allege the residents.

Meanwhile,  corporation health committee chairperson  V.K. Minimol said that red earth was  transported to the plant not for land-filling but for repairing  the road within the yard compound. Last week, the Muvattupuzha Vigilance court had ordered  a quick verification against the alleged irregularities in the agreement signed by the civic body to set up a waste-to-energy plant and in the functioning of the existing plant at Brahmapuram.