Maharashtra Pollution Control Board issues notice to PMC over garbage units

PUNE: The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has issued a notice to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) over the "nuisance being caused due to poor maintenance and operation" of the garbage processing units and for trial runs of producing biogas in the Ramtekdi industrial area without permission.The industrial units have repeatedly been protesting against the PMC's garbage processing units being run in the area. Spread over 150 acres near Hadapsar, the Ramtekdi industrial area comprises 87 units of engineering, food industry and liquor plants among others. The industrialists claimed that the garbage, which is dumped in an open space for vermicomposting, raises a stink and creates other health problems for workers and residents.

Meanwhile, the PMC has also started trial runs for producing biogas (syngas) at its garbage disposal plant at Ramtekdi and plans to generate over 10 MW of electricity in the next few months. The plant has been assigned to a private company on a built operate transfer (BOT) basis for a period of 25 years.Following regular complaints by locals, MPCB officials visited the plant on June 7 and recently issued a notice to the PMC. The notice said, "We have observed that the processing plant has not obtained consent from the MPCB. The trial (processing) was started without prior intimation or consent to operate from the MPCB. You have not obtained environmental clearance for power generation, if applicable, and the house keeping (general cleanliness) is also poor.""You are hereby informed to submit the compliance immediately. If you fail to (do) the same... appropriate action will be initiated, which may result in the closure of your unit," said Nitin R Shinde, sub-regional officer, Pune (MPCB), in the notice.However, the PMC has asserted that with the help of modern technology, the garbage is processed without creating any nuisance for the neighbouring establishments.

"The PMC has submitted its reply to the MPCB and there is no problem in running the processing units," PMC's solid waste management officer Suresh Jagtap told TOI.The city generates around 1,300 metric tones (MT) of waste every day, which, according to the civic body, is processed daily. About 1,000 MT is processed at the Hanjer biotech company in Urali, while the remaining is taken care of at the biogas, mechanical compost and vermicompost units across the city. At Ramtekdi, the vermicompost unit processes garbage at 15% to 20% of its total capacity, while the vermicompost plant at MIDC industrial unit in Hadapsar processes garbage at 60% to 70% of its total capacity, the local residents said.