On March 2, 2023, a fire broke out at the solid waste treatment plant in Brahmapuram, Kerala.

After 12 days of firefighting, the blaze has finally come down with toxic fumes engulfing the city and its suburbs. 

The plant was maintained by Kochi Corporation until the state government warranted composting and biomining. 

In a drone survey conducted by the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Kozhikode, 5.5 lakh cubic meters of waste lay over an area of 40.25 acres. 206 tonnes of waste are dumped daily. 

No segregation of waste makes processing laborious. With biomining occurring at a slow pace, environmentalists call for a decentralized approach to waste management,  processing at source by the adoption of household composting techniques.