Kerala - Kochi   

FACT to buy bio-manure produced by Brahmapuram treatment plant

KOCHI: The bio-manure produced by the Brahmapuram solid waste treatment plant of the Kochi Corporation will be purchased by the Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT).

The two agencies reached an informal agreement regarding the purchase of the manure at a meeting held in the presence of the Local Administration Minister Paloli Mohammed Kutty in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.

According to the understanding, FACT will market the manure produced by the corporation. Chemical fertilizer companies are under an obligation to market bio-manures alongside their other products.

The Union government had earlier issued an order to the companies in this regard.

The manure is produced from the biodegradable waste generated by the city and treated at the plant. A stock of nearly 30 tonnes of manure is there at the plant site at present.

FACT will regularly monitor the quality of the fertilizer as part of the purchase deal.

The sale of the manure will begin once the Andhra Pradesh Technology Development Corporation (APTDC), which has installed the plant and is running it, relinquishes its responsibilities.

The APTDC and the corporation had earlier entered into an agreement for setting up the plant and running it for one year.

The Kochi Corporation and FACT will soon sign an agreement for the purchase of the manure, said Mayor Mercy Williams.

FACT will prepare a draft of the agreement for the deal, which will be discussed by the Corporation Council. The agreement will be signed after obtaining the clearance from the Council, Ms. Williams said.

Though the two agencies have not reached an agreement regarding the price of the manure, the corporation has indicated at the Thiruvananthapuram meeting that it would like to collect the operational cost of the plant from the sale of the manure.

“We are not eyeing for any profit from the sale of the manure. But, we hope to recover the operational cost of the plant from the sale of manure,” she said.

Besides Ms. Williams, Deputy Mayor C.K. Manisankar; Health Standing Committee chairman N.A. Mani; Works Standing Committee chairman N. Anilkumar; and Corporation Secretary Mini Antony took part in the discussions.

FACT chairman George Sleba led the team of his company officials at the discussion.

Meanwhile, five agencies have responded to the tender floated by the Kochi Corporation inviting agencies for running the plant.

The corporation has also trained some of its officials for running the plant to face any emergency, Ms. Williams said.

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