Deccan Chronicle 13.11.2013
Bioplants soon for Chennai garbage
Chennai: With
Kodungaiyur and Perungudi dumpyards moving towards the end of their
lifetime, the Chennai Corporation is toying with a new strategy to
dispose the daily garbage being collected in the city — setting up
biomethanation plants.
The corporation is planning to set
up one biomethanation plant in each of its 200 wards and produce biogas
through the segregated waste collected from the localities. In a pilot
basis, one plant will be installed in every zone.
“Every
zone will be getting one biomethanation plant within three months and
‘expression of interests’ will be invited soon,” said a top official at
the corporation.
“To begin with, the gas produced will be
used for cooking purposes in the nearby corporation canteens and
anganwadi centres. The tough part is source segregation which needs
support from the public,” the official pointed out.
Each
biomethanation plant would cost nearly 25 lakh for installation. While
speaking on the idea of producing electricity from garbage, the
official said, “The scheme involves processes similar to that of
incineration (burning of garbage) which leads to pollution. However,
biogas production is comparatively more eco friendly.”
The
Kodungaiyur dumpyard collects up to 2,300 metric tones of waste every
day, while the Perungudi site collects up to 2,400 metric tones of
garbage. The biomethanation project if implemented will reduce the
garbage dumped at these yards and will also be used for other purposes.
“If
the corporation is going to reach out to every home for collecting the
waste for the biomethanation plants, it must also make sure that the
location of civic these facilities does not hinder transport in our
area,” said S. Aditya, a resident of Thiru.Vi.Ka. Nagar.
