The Hindu 20.03.2013
Experts to screen proposals for waste management plants
Clearing spacesThe plants that are to be set up in Kuthambakkam and
Minjur are expected to tackle the rising incidence of burning garbage in
the city. A scene at the Koyambedu Market on Tuesday —Photo: S.S. Kumar
A panel of experts from agencies including Central
Pollution Control Board and National Environmental Engineering Research
Institute will scrutinise proposals for new solid waste management
plants in the city.
The Chennai Corporation has
shortlisted 10 proposals for the plants that are to come up on the
outskirts. All the shortlisted companies will make a detailed
presentation of the proposals and experts will identify technology that
is clean.
They will reject technologies likely to
pollute neighbourhoods such as Kuthambakkam and Minjur, after the city’s
waste management plants are commissioned in such areas. Residents of
the localities have already voiced concerns about the proposed solid
waste management plants.
Of the 10 bids received by
the Corporation from private companies for the setting up of such plants
to process municipal solid waste, six have proposed that such a
facility be set up in Kuthambakkam.
“The experts will
study the impact of technology such as incineration for the solid waste
management plants. We will not accept any proposal that has not been
proved environment friendly,” said an official of Chennai Corporation.
Incineration
technology for management of municipal solid waste involves conversion
of the waste into ash and heat. The ash is mostly formed by the
inorganic constituents of the waste, and may take the form of
particulates. The emissions must be cleaned of gaseous and particulate
pollutants before release into the atmosphere.
The
development of a system to reduce emissions will be the priority of the
expert panel. New ideas may not be accepted by the panel. After the
panel finalises the technical aspects of the bid, the financial details
will be finalised next week.
Kuthambakkam, which has a
99-acre plot of land, is likely to be the most suitable place for
commissioning the facility, say Chennai Corporation officials. Most of
the city’s waste is likely to be processed in the proposed Kuthambakkam
plant. Initially, more than 2,500 tonnes of municipal solid waste
generated in the southern parts of the city will be processed in
Kuthambakkam.
Civic body has shortlisted 10 proposals for the facilities to come up on the outskirts
