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Solid Waste Management

Regional waste treatment plant to come up by 2015

Thursday, 09 May 2013 08:38 administrator
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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.

 

Special cell to oversee solid waste management

Wednesday, 08 May 2013 11:21 administrator
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The New Indian Express               08.05.2013

Special cell to oversee solid waste management

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is likely to constitute a Solid Waste Management (SWM) Cell that will monitor garbage disposal in the city.

The BBMP expert committee on SWM has recommended to commissioner Siddaiah to set up such a cell. Speaking to Express, N S Ramakanth, a committee member, said, “In order to hold someone accountable for garbage disposal, we have recommended the setting-up of a dedicated cell for solid waste management.

In our recommendations, we have not asked for additional manpower. Instead, excess staff from other divisions will be roped in,” he said.

Sources in BBMP said the cell will have a set of officials, including an additional commissioner. At present, Ramandeep Choudhary, an IAS officer, has been given the post. There will be two chief engineers to assist him. Apart from them, there will also be one superintendent engineer at every zone, assistant environmental engineer at the division level and one health inspector at each ward. 

“All these days, civil engineers in many wards were made in charge of garbage clearance. Now, the committee has recommended to replace them with environmental engineers,” a source said. In the first week of April, Siddaiah had promised the High Court to set up dry waste collection centres at all the 198 wards by the month-end. However, BBMP sought an extension and asked for a month’s time as officials were deputed on election duty.

The case will again come up this month-end.

A senior official said they will also submit the recommendations made by the expert committee on setting up of the SWM cell.

 

Ludhiana second in North in plastic waste generation

Tuesday, 07 May 2013 11:16 administrator
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The Times of India               07.05.2013

Ludhiana second in North in plastic waste generation

LUDHIANA: Despite orders of the Supreme Court, the Ludhiana municipal corporation continues to be oblivious to the issue of plastic waste in the city. The Apex court, in its order on April 3, asked all states to submit a status report to the court, but the MC is unaware of the directives.

The survey conducted by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in 60 cities showed that Ludhiana is among the top 10 cities producing hazardous plastic waste. The remaining nine are Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Faridabad, Jaipur, Agra, Amritsar and Chandigarh.

Out of 3,501 tonnes of hazardous plastic waste produced in the 60 cities studied, Delhi accounts for 20% with 689.52 tonnes, followed by Chennai with 429 tonnes, Kolkata with 425 tonnes and Mumbai with 408 tonnes. The four metros account for about 57% of plastic waste.

In the north, Ludhiana stands at the second highest position in the production of plastic waste. Faridabad was found to generate 79.03 tonnes of such waste every day, followed by Ludhiana with 50.68 tonnes, Agra with 40.89 tonnes. With 2.23 tonnes of waste, Shimla was among the lowest plastic waste producing cities.

After a court warning in 2011, the municipal corporation officially banned plastic bags below 30 microns, as they are light enough to fly around in the air. These plastic bags were also found to be choking drains.

However, the ban has not been properly implemented and shopkeepers continue to use plastic bags below 30 microns. Light weight plastic can be seen blowing in the wind around open garbage and dumping grounds near residential areas.

Areas which are bearing the brunt of plastic waste are Dugri, BRS Nagar, SBS Nagar, Model Town, Haibowal and others. Shashi Singh, a resident of Haibowal, said, "Buddah Nallah is one of the examples of the authority's neglect. You can't even pass through the bridge properly, it stinks so bad."

Reacting to the problem of hazardous plastic waste which is enough to spread epidemics in the city, mayor Harcharan Singh Gohal Waria said, "No such complaint has come up from residents till date. If the condition is so serious I am ready to give it first preference and start work of cleanliness as soon as possible and will also ask them to prepare a status report and present it before me in a week."

Last Updated on Tuesday, 07 May 2013 11:27
 
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