Kerala govt cancels contract with controversial firm Zonta Infratech in Brahmapuram Waste Plant

Thiruvananthapuram: Amid the second-anniversary celebration of the second term of the government, the state has nullified the contract with the controversial film Zonta Infratech in the waste management in the Brahmapuram plant. The company has been excluded from the Waste to Energy project in Brahmapuram, Kochi.

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The project to create Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) from garbage has been given to BPCL, according to Minister MB Rajesh's statement to Asianet News. He said that the scams in the contracts for the chief minister's visionary waste-to-electricity project and the Brahmapuram fire have harmed the government's reputation.

The Brahmapuram fire tarnished the image of the Kerala government as it was a project set up after Chief Minister's study on the waste treatment done abroad. The government took over the waste management from the local bodies through a special order. But irregularities surfaced in the tender process conducted by KSITC.

The significant tipping fees that are paid to private corporations to produce electricity and sell tonnes of waste have been used as evidence of corruption in waste-to-energy plants. The government is withdrawing Zonta Infratech from the Kochi project following the Brahmapuram fire, citing a breach of contract.

The next waste management technique was biomining, which included burying trash. But in the Kozhikode and Kochi Corporations, the biomining process is slowing down. The Kochi biomining project has a strong odour of corruption as well. Despite these controversies, the government has accomplished a number of things, like garbage management in Guruvayur and ending the long waste crisis in Thiruvananthapuram. However, the waste-to-energy project has not yet been accomplished in the capital.

For the uninitiated, the Bengaluru-based firm, which is run by Rajkumar Chellappan Pilla -- son-in-law of former LDF Convener Vaikkom Vishwan, has been blamed for the fire at the Brahmapuram waste dump yard in Kochi. The company was awarded Rs 54 crore waste-to-energy contract despite allegedly 'flouting experience requirements'. When the heat turned up following the deadly fire, Zonta awarded a subcontract to a company run by the son of a senior Congress leader.

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