The Pioneer 20.10.2010
GAIL roped in to tap gas from Ghazipur landfill
Parvaiz Sultan | New Delhi
In an innovative move to reduce green house effect, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has decided to harness gas emanating from landfill sites in the Capital and utilise it commercially. The civic body has roped in Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), which will extract gas from Ghazipur landfill site on experimental basis. Apart from financial benefits, the arrangement will also provide the much-needed technical assistance to MCD for maintaining such sites. The move will also help in reducing foul smell in the residential colonies in the vicinity of the landfill sites which include parts of Ghaziabad like Vaishali, Kaushambi etc.
The move is also part of obligatory duty of the civic body to protect atmosphere by preventing such gas blending in the air. As a pilot project, initially 10 acres of Ghazipur Landfill site will be handed over to tge GAIL for extraction of gas and other related activities. The area allotted to the company may be extended as per the requirement of the gas processing project with the mutual consent. The total cost of the plant
has been estimated at Rs 32 crores, which will convert and retrieve the methane released from solid wastes generated.
According to a senior official, the project will be beneficial for the civic body as the MCD is not investing a single penny on the project and on the contrary, it will be entitled to receive 20 per cent of the net profit earned through the project.
“We are just providing our land to the GAIL. The company will be free to make use of the landfill gas harnessed but 20 per cent of the net profit, if accrued out of this project, would be shared with the MCD,” said he.
The officer added the decision is in favour of the MCD and no tender was invited but a proposal was received from the GAIL, which is an undertaking of Government of India. “We had been trying for sometime to use dumped waste as resources recovery tool by harnessing gas from it but previous attempts by MCD could not bear fruitful results because of lack of expertise,” said he. It was also stated as per Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) rules notified by Ministry of Environment and Forest, it is mandatory for each local body to collect the gas produced from landfill for use as resources or to flare the same to reduce greenhouse effect.
“Keeping in mind the obligatory functions and at the same time to utilise it commercially, the proposal from the GAIL was given serious thought,” said the MCD official. Ghazipur landfill is spread over 70 acres of land and received about 2,000 MT of waste daily from various zones of the city.
