Tony Chammany. File
The biomining of legacy waste accumulated on the Brahmapuram campus of the Kochi Corporation has ended up in a legal battle with former Mayor Tony Chammany serving a legal notice on the civic body demanding the retendering of the bid for waste processing.
The Kochi Corporation awarded the bid to a Bengaluru-based firm after retendering the bids. The certificates produced by the firm selected for the job were manipulated ones, alleged Mr. Chammany in a legal notice served on the civic body.
Though the bid was floated for ‘dump-site land reclamation through biomining process’, the company which was selected for the job lacked the required experience in the sector. The firm had experience only in capping of waste, which did not require much machinery and experience, he alleged.
Mr. Chammany alleged that the bid was illegally awarded to the firm due to the consideration that the managing director and the director of the firm were the close relatives of a prominent CPI(M) leader.
If the local body fails to cancel the tender and retender the bid, appropriate legal action will be taken, he said.
Responding to the developments, Mayor M. Anilkumar said the floating and the screening of the bids and the awarding of the contract were carried out by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) for the State government and the civic body had no role in the process.
“The Secretary of the Kochi Corporation will reply to the notice served in his name. All that the civic body is concerned about is clearing the waste that has accumulated at the site. No other agency but the Kochi Corporation is solely responsible for the garbage heaps, which has been causing environmental degradation,” he said.
The Congress-led civic administration, which was in power for a decade, should be blamed for the failure in managing the waste, he said.
Legal notice was also sent to the KSIDC, the firm and the State government secretaries concerned.
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Printable version | Sep 21, 2021 5:10:12 AM | https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/biomining-former-mayor-serves-legal-notice-on-corporation/article36554121.ece
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