The Kochi Corporation will once again engage the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Kozhikode to quantify the legacy waste remaining to be bio-mined at Brahmapuram in Ernakulam district of Kerala.
The decision was taken at a council meeting on Tuesday (January 27, 2026) while considering an agenda seeking administrative and financial sanction to extend the contract with Bhumi Green Energy for bio-mining the excess quantity of legacy waste. The matter sparked a heated exchange between the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) councillors over the actual volume of waste that still needs to be processed.
“We have decided to engage NIT and obtain a report within a month on the remaining quantity of legacy waste to be bio-mined so that there is no dispute in the future. We will also seek legal opinion for a supplementary agreement to engage the agency for bio-mining the excess quantity beyond the originally agreed amount, at the same rate of ₹1,690 per metric tonne, notwithstanding a clause to that effect in the original agreement,” said Mayor V.K. Minimol.
The Corporation had signed an agreement with Bhumi Green Energy on November 4, 2023, to bio-mine 7 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste within 16 months. The contract, initially set to end on March 3, 2025, was later extended by eight months to November 30, 2025. However, an NIT survey pegged the total legacy waste at 8.43 lakh metric tonnes. To complete the work, an additional 1,43,954.392 metric tonnes must be processed and removed, requiring an extra ₹24.32 crore.
LDF leader V.A. Sreejith contested the Mayor’s earlier statement, made after visiting Brahmapuram this month, that 2.50 lakh tonnes of waste remained to be bio-mined. “This figure probably included scientifically capped waste, which does not require bio-mining. Officials have confirmed that only 1.43 lakh metric tonnes remain. So how did the Mayor arrive at such a figure?” he asked.
‘Renegotiate rate’
Meanwhile, UDF councillor and finance standing committee member M.G. Aristotle demanded that the rate for bio-mining be renegotiated and reviewed by the finance and works committees before extending the contract. “The exorbitant rate of ₹1,690 per metric tonne was accepted citing the tight 16-month period and stringent penalty clauses. However, the contract has since been extended multiple times, and the initial workload of dividing the area into sectors no longer exists,” he said.
According to the Corporation, as of January 4, 7.58 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste have been processed and 7.15 lakh metric tonnes removed, which was 15,155.12 metric tonnes beyond the contracted quantity. The agency has submitted 24 part bills amounting to ₹118.30 crore. A balance of ₹5.43 crore is yet to be paid. A bill for ₹6 crore has been submitted from the maintenance fund (non-road category), which will be cleared subject to WAMS (Ways and Means Monitoring System) approval.
Published – January 28, 2026 05:15 pm IST
