The Hindu 02.02.2011
Plant to produce bio-manure from solid waste in the offing
The Rs. 15-crore project to come up at dump in Ariyamangalam
The Integrated Waste Management and Urban Services Company (Tamil Nadu), engaged in the business of managing municipal solid waste, organic waste, toxic waste, disposal of bio-medical waste, and other urban services in the State, would set up a Rs.15 crore plant to produce bio-manure from the solid waste generated in the city.
The plant will be set up at the Tiruchi Corporation's garbage dump at Ariyamangalam in the city.
The company got the nod for the project from the Corporation Council last week, ending the uncertainty that had prevailed after a section of the councillors opposed it in December.
The Corporation, in 2007, awarded the contract for the establishment of a bio-manure production unit on a build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis to the Salem-based Sivasakthi Environment Development Trust. The Integrated Waste Management and Urban Services Company (IWMUST) will execute the project based on a novation agreement (a legal instrument that provides for an arrangement to substitute one party for another in a contract) between the two agencies.
R.Sarto, Chief Operating Officer, IWMUST, who was in the city on Saturday, told The Hindu that the plant would process about 300 tonnes of solid wastes every day to produce about 40 to 45 tonnes of manure, which could be used for agriculture.
The company would invest about Rs.10.50 crore on the civil works and the rest of the project cost would go towards machinery.
The plant would have a pre-processing unit, which would sort out the solid waste and an aerobic digestion unit through which the solid waste would be biologically decomposed for a period of six to eight weeks.
“The plant will be operational by April and to start with it will process about 50 tonnes of solid wastes a day. The capacity will be gradually scaled up to 300 tonnes in two to three months,” he said. Apart from the rent for the leased land, the company will also pay the Corporation for every tonne of bio-manure manufactured.
Mr.Sarto said the plant will be of international standards and the company was already operating similar plants in Erode, Coonoor, Mettupalayam, Pollachi and Udumalpet.
He also indicated that a scientific closure of the accumulated garbage of over 11.5 lakh tonnes lying at the dump at the next phase.
The huge mounds of garbage were to be compacted and converted into lush green hillocks.
Jerome Arockiaraj, Ariyamangalam zone chairperson of the Corporation, said the project will contribute to a significant improvement in the civic body's garbage disposal system. This has been a long pending problem and the project would be an ideal solution, he said.
