Due to the fire, 1,335 people sought medical help in government and private hospitals.
Thiruvananthapuram:
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday said that the fire that broke out at Brahmapuram in Kochi on March 2 did not cause any serious health problems.
Mr Vijayan, who has come under scrutiny for not addressing the Brahmapuram crisis, told the state assembly that as per available data, 1,335 people sought medical help in government and private hospitals, including 128 children below the age of 10. Children and 262 children over the age of 60 are included. ,
“21 people needed hospitalisation. No one had serious health problems,” the CM said.
His reply was read out in the assembly under rule 300 of the procedure and conduct in the assembly.
He further said that the state government has announced that all the proceedings from the beginning of the plant will be subjected to vigilance scrutiny.
The CM of Kerala also said, ‘Apart from this, a special investigation team will be formed to investigate the registered crime case related to Brahmapuram.’
According to the CM, the government will prepare an action plan to develop an effective waste management system across the state on a war footing.
“An expert committee, including technical experts, will be appointed to make recommendations on all relevant matters, including the cause of the Brahmapuram fire, so that the waste management plan can be operationalized and such accidents can be avoided in future,” he added.
He further said that the Special Investigation Team of the police will probe the crime case registered in connection with the Brahmapuram fire and vigilance checks will be carried out on all proceedings since inception of the plant.
“The terms of reference for the inquiry include- What were the causes of the fire? What steps should be taken to prevent future fires? Solid waste treatment – How suitable is the present site as a waste disposal facility? To what extent Were the observations and recommendations made by the State Pollution Control Board followed? Who is responsible for the failure to implement the recommendations? Were there lapses in the agreement to implement windrow composting?” Shri Vijayan also informed the House.
A Government Empowered Committee under Section 24(l) of the Disaster Management Act to ensure faultless waste management and timely implementation of the comprehensive action program prepared for the same and removal of bottlenecks.
He further said that the activities in Kochi would be assessed on a daily basis by the Additional Chief Secretary, Local Self Government Department.
“Besides, the Minister of Local Self-Government and Industries will review every week. The fire was completely extinguished by March 13. Due to the possibility of recurrence of small fires, precautions are still being taken,” he said.
He also said that since the fire broke out and the smoke spread, the health department is taking precautions to deal with any emergency.
“Special wards at Ernakulam Medical College and two taluk hospitals, 100 oxygen beds at the district hospital, besides smoke inhalation and mobile medical units at Kalamassery hospital. Private hospitals also cooperated well in health care activities. Continuous monitoring of ambient air quality A system was made for this. Introduced from March 4,” the Kerala CM said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)