The Hindu         20.03.2013 

Experts to screen proposals for waste management plants

Clearing spacesThe plants that are to be set up in Kuthambakkam and Minjur are expected to tackle the rising incidence of burning garbage in the city. A scene at the Koyambedu Market on Tuesday —Photo: S.S. Kumar

A panel of experts from agencies including Central Pollution Control Board and National Environmental Engineering Research Institute will scrutinise proposals for new solid waste management plants in the city.

The Chennai Corporation has shortlisted 10 proposals for the plants that are to come up on the outskirts. All the shortlisted companies will make a detailed presentation of the proposals and experts will identify technology that is clean.

They will reject technologies likely to pollute neighbourhoods such as Kuthambakkam and Minjur, after the city’s waste management plants are commissioned in such areas. Residents of the localities have already voiced concerns about the proposed solid waste management plants.

Of the 10 bids received by the Corporation from private companies for the setting up of such plants to process municipal solid waste, six have proposed that such a facility be set up in Kuthambakkam.

“The experts will study the impact of technology such as incineration for the solid waste management plants. We will not accept any proposal that has not been proved environment friendly,” said an official of Chennai Corporation.

 Incineration technology for management of municipal solid waste involves conversion of the waste into ash and heat. The ash is mostly formed by the inorganic constituents of the waste, and may take the form of particulates. The emissions must be cleaned of gaseous and particulate pollutants before release into the atmosphere.

The development of a system to reduce emissions will be the priority of the expert panel. New ideas may not be accepted by the panel. After the panel finalises the technical aspects of the bid, the financial details will be finalised next week.

Kuthambakkam, which has a 99-acre plot of land, is likely to be the most suitable place for commissioning the facility, say Chennai Corporation officials. Most of the city’s waste is likely to be processed in the proposed Kuthambakkam plant. Initially, more than 2,500 tonnes of municipal solid waste generated in the southern parts of the city will be processed in Kuthambakkam.

Civic body has shortlisted 10 proposals for the facilities to come up on the outskirts