Kochi Turns Into Gas Chamber: Toxic Fumes from Brahmapuram Waste Plant Continue to Haunt the Kerala City

A fire broke out at the city corporation’s solid waste treatment plant in Brahmapuram in the evening hours last Thursday (March 2) — engulfing Kochi in a haze of unpleasant fumes that has continued to hold the city’s residents in a chokehold even eight days later.

The dense smog has also permeated other areas of the Ernakulam district, including Kadavanthra, Vyttila, Maradu and Panampally Nagar.

As authorities struggle to put out the fire completely, residents have been struggling to carry out everyday activities amid the suffocating conditions created by the smoke and pungent odour of the burning plastic.

The government has asked civilians to remain indoors and wear N-95 masks before stepping out. The Ernakulam district collector has declared a two-day holiday for educational institutions on Thursday and Friday.

Fires are commonplace at the Brahmapuram dump yard this time of the year, thanks to the extreme heat. And locals have complained about the fires and the potential health hazards the smoke might cause.

Already, Kochi is seeing a substantial uptick in the number of people visiting hospitals with lung-related ailments, colds and skin burns. Further, the smoke was also causing nausea and dizziness among the firefighters, leading to at least 20 officials from the fire department developing breathing issues from the exposure.

As for why it’s taking so long to fully extinguish the flames, a firefighter told the Press Trust of India that the layers of plastic had heated up underneath the mounds of waste, delaying the operation.

And experts suggest that the anaerobic decomposition taking place 10 to 20 feet under the piles of solid waste is generating a lot of flammable methane gas, making it almost impossible to put out the fire.

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