Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan finally broke his silence on the Brahmapuram waste treatment plant mishap, a day after the smog dissipated.
The fire broke out at the waste treatment plant in Kochi around 4.30 pm on March 2. The thick toxic smoke that emanated from the charred plastic heaps at the waste dumping yard spread to larger areas choking the city and its suburbs for nearly two weeks.
The residents have been complaining of health issues such as eye burns, cough and breathlessness due to the toxic smoke.
Even though the Assembly was in session and the Congress-led opposition up in arms, CM Vijayan maintained a stoic silence.
With the smog coming to an end after hundreds of men and machines worked day and night, the Chief Minister took cover under Rule 300 of the Kerala Assembly rules and procedures and said a thorough probe will take place.
"There will be a Vigilance probe, a special team will probe on how the fire broke out, and in future, there will be weekly checks and analysis that will take place on the prevailing condition at the waste plant site," he said.
However, before Vijayan started speaking, Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan led the entire opposition out of the house.
Talking to the media, the Congress leader said Rule 300 is like All India Radio, where one can only hear and cannot ask any questions.
"Is Vijayan All India Radio? The fact of the matter is Vijayan is scared of questions and hence he is using Rule 300 to wriggle out of this," said Satheesan.
In a related development, Congress leader and former Kochi Mayor Tony Chemmani told the media on Wednesday at Kochi that a high level delegation led by Vijayan had visited the Netherlands and held talks with the subsidiary company of Zonta Infratech, the firm that's presently engaged in the Brahmapuram Waste Plant.
"It was after this visit the present company got the contract," he claimed.