In an unprecedented incident on Monday, Devan Ramachandran, a judge of the Kerala High Court wrote to S Manikumar, the Chief Justice of the court, seeking urgent intervention in the massive fire that broke out at a waste treatment plant near Kochi which continues unabated and has engulfed the whole metropolis in poisonous smoke.
It is widely believed that the Central Pollution Control Board's report that the poison content in the atmospheric air in Kochi has crossed all safety levels that prompted Justice Devan Ramachandran to write to the Chief Justice. The CPCB's findings is that the atmospheric oxygen in Kochi has a PM 2.5 value of 441 which is highly dangerous. The term P.M denotes Particulate Matter or the micro molecules that constitute the atmospheric oxygen. A Government of Kerala medical officer based in Ernakulam told The Pioneer that it was not advisable for people from other States or countries to undertake a trip to Kochi as on date.
Though the fire was broke out last week, the authorities have failed to bring it under control while tons of garbage including plastic waste continue to burn emitting poisonous gas. The fire that engulfed the tons of garbage that have been dumped into the waste yard has caused breathlessness and cough to hundreds of people across the metropolis and hospitals were lined up with those who were affected by the poisonous smoke.
While the Kerala Government deployed the services of fire engines and helicopters from the Naval Base at Kochi to drowse the flames, the result proved to be worse than the cure as the fire became more intensive. The district administration asked people in Ernakulam city and suburbs to stay indoors on Sunday while all educational institutions remained partially shut on Monday.