The Indian Express 24.09.2013
With MC nod in, city to get two bio gas plants soon
The Municipal Corporation on Monday approved installation of two bio gas plants. These would process the waste that the already existing garbage processing plant is not accepting. The waste would be converted into methane that would be utilised for the purpose of generating power.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the General House held here. The report of the project was prepared after a team comprising the mayor, two councillors and two officials visited a similar plant at Matheran that has been established by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).
The garbage processing plant at Dadumajra does not process food waste or horticulture waste. This is being taken directly to the dumping ground. Due to this, the dumping ground is likely to fill up within the next three to four years. Attempts to find additional space for a dumping ground have proven futile till now, with there not being much space in Chandigarh.
The plant requires a space of around two kanals to be set up. It is proposed that in Chandigarh a 5-metric tonne plant be installed. It costs between Rs 15 and 20 lakh to set up a 1-metric tonne plant. Four sites have been identified. These are a horticulture store near Shanti Kunj in Sector 16, old tile factory in Industrial Area, cement factory in Sector 26 and the other near the existing garbage plant.
Municipal Commissioner Vivek Pratap Singh said a lot of resources were wasted in transportation of garbage. "It is proposed that small plants be installed at places where food waste is produced. The plants do not produce any odour. These have been installed in parks near residential
areas at Pune. The dumping site is filling up fast and some alternative is required," he said.
Prior to the visit of the team from MC to Matheran, Sharad P Kale, an expert in waste management, had visited the city to assess the situation here.
The plants would have a comprehensive operation and maintenance component of 10 years from the company that sets it up.
Asserting that there was a need to ensure segregation of the garbage, councillor Pardeep Chhabra who was part of the team said rules should be enforced to ensure that segregation of garbage takes place at the source. Otherwise, output of the plant would be affected.
Congress sour over proposal
The objections to the proposal and the tour were not received from the councillors in the Opposition, including BJP and SAD, but from the Congress.
Congress councillor Sat Prakash Aggarwal alleged that the tour by the team was held overnight without informing anyone. He said the MC was working in a hurry and immediately after returning from the tour the proposal had been made. Mayor Subhash Chawla clarified that the tour was not made overnight and was not by any private company, but by a government enterprise.
Congress councillor Raj Bala Malik raised objections that when last year as a mayor she had gone to NEERI (National Environmental Engineering Research Institute), the report by the team on garbage management had been outrightly rejected. She demanded that the report be tabled at the next meeting of the House.
