The Indian Express 09.05.2013
Regional waste treatment plant to come up by 2015
Will process 2,500 tonnes of garbage from MMR daily, convert it to electricity.
By the end of 2015, MMRDA expects to commission a regional solid waste management plant at Taloja with a capacity to process 2,500 tonnes of solid waste produced in the Mumbai metropolitan region (MMR) daily, and convert the waste into power.
MMRDA is in the process of awarding a contract to a consortium of Ramky Enviro Engineers and China's Chongqing Sanfeng Environmental Industry Group to construct and operate the processing plant for 25 years. The construction of the plant will cost about Rs 500 crore.
"The concessionaire will be given six months for financial closure and two years for setting up the plant. Six local bodies have evinced interest in using the processing plant. We are hopeful that eventually, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will use the services of the Taloja plant for disposing at least a part of the solid waste generated," said UPS Madan, metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA.
The six local bodies that will use the plant are Kalyan-Dombivali, Bhiwandi-Nizampur, Ulhasnagar, Ambernath, Badlapur and City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO).
Madan said initially, even Thane Municipal Corporation was to use the solid waste management plant for disposing of its municipal waste, but it later backed out.
The regional solid waste management plant, touted to be stench-free, is an attempt to gradually move dumping grounds away from human habitat, which all local bodies can use. The tipping fee, which is the rate the local bodies will have to pay for the transfer and processing of waste, has been pegged at Rs 843 per tonne.
The local bodies will first bring municipal waste to a transfer station in their locality. Here, waste will be compacted by removing moisture and taken to the plant. A material recovery facility will separate the bio-degradable and combustible material. Bio-degradable material will be composted, while the rest will be incinerated to produce 24 megawatt electricity per day.
"We have also set up a stringent online monitoring system to detect violation of environmental norms and slap penalties on contractor. After the completion of 25 years, the contractor will have to work for another 15 years to scientifically close down the landfills," said Ashwini Bhide, additional metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA.
The plant will be spread across a 107-hectare plot owned by the state government. MMRDA is in talks to purchase about five hectares of private land for the project.
