The civil authorities failed to extinguish the massive that broke out at the Brahmapuram waste treatment plant in Kerala’s industrial capital Kochi two days ago, reported the news agency PTI. The smoke hung over in the sky in several parts of the state capital on Saturday early morning.


Aerial firefighting services were deployed along with the defence fire-tenders on the spot to douse the fire. The aerial service used the Large Area Aerial Liquid Dispersal Eqpt (LAALDE) by naval ALH, tweeted Southern Naval Command. 






Officials deployed at the site sprayed more than 5000 litres of water in order to douse and control the raging fire in the fire active zones. 


The deteriorating air quality in the coastal region resulted in the Kochi corporation officials in asking for help and assistance from the Indian Navy to extinguish the fire that had engulfed the waste treatment plant, as cited by PTI.


A defence spokesperson said that Indian Navy was committed to providing all the required assistance to help control the emergency situation.


The defence spokesperson tweeted, as mentioned by PTI, “Indian Navy (@indiannavy) joins the firefighting efforts to douse the massive fire at Brahmapuram Waste Treatment Plant along with Government of Kerala.”


Later, the official Twitter handle of the Southern Naval Command tweeted, “Consequent to assistance sought by district authorities over the massive fire at Brahamapuram Waste Plant in Kochi, Southern Naval Command has pressed into action naval firefighting services.”






It added that an aerial survey was also undertaken to assess the extent of the fire and that the joint efforts with district admin were in progress.


Meanwhile, the Ernakulam district administration informed the media that the fire is expected to be doused at the earliest. Earlier, Ernakulam District Collector Dr Renu Raj said assistance from the Airforce could be asked to bring the situation under control if the civil administration failed to control the fire.


A Kochi resident Ranjit Thampy said that toxic smoke was impacting the health of the resident in the area, reported PTI.


In a Facebook post, he said, “People are forced to breathe toxic air. Today morning it's really bad and pathetic," Thampy said in the post,” as mentioned by PTI.


The district collector informed the public in a video message that all required efforts were being made to douse the fire. The collector asked the public not to panic.


(With Inputs From Agencies)