Keralam reclaims over 120 acres from legacy waste landfills
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A view of Brahmapuram waste treatment plant in Kochi. | Photo Credit: Thulasi Kakkat
Keralam has reclaimed around 121 acres after processing about 15.45 lakh tonnes of legacy (old) waste from the dump sites across various districts as of July 2026.
Of the 59 identified legacy dump sites in the State, remediation has been completed at 29 sites so far. It is progressing at 20 sites while the work has not yet started in the remaining 10 sites. A total of about 4.1 lakh tonnes of waste at these 30 sites required scientific remediation.
About 3.3 lakh tonnes of waste has not been processed yet in the 20 sites, where the biomining work is progressing, according to the estimates by the Department of Local Self Government.
As per the latest assessment, the remediation process is likely to jump the expected schedule in most of these sites. Asked about the reasons behind the delay, senior officials of the Department of Local Self Government stated that the adverse weather conditions, including prolonged rainfall had impacted the smooth progress of the work. The work is highly dependent on suitable weather conditions as it involved excavation, segregation and drying of organic materials, they said.
A report on the updated status of biomining in the State submitted by the authorities before the Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal in August 2026 stated that continuous rainfall made internal haul roads inaccessible, increased the risk of slope instability within legacy waste heaps and created unsafe working conditions for labour. The State Assembly elections had caused administrative delays in the work arrangement procedures, it said.
Mayor of Kochi Corporation V. K Minimol said that the council has asked the agency that had undertaken the biomining of legacy waste at its dump site in Brahmapuram to complete the work as per the current schedule. They have been told to complete the remediation process within the next six months. We hope that it will be over by May 2027, she said.
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