The Times of India       27.08.2014 

SMC to generate gas from dumping site

SURAT:
Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) has decided to rejuvenate a part of
the 40 hectare of land that it uses as dumping site at Khajod. This
piece of land has become infertile as 1,400 tonnes of all types of waste
is being dumped there daily for the past 10 years.

SMC has
invited consultancy offers from private parties either to compost manure
or generate gas from the waste by drilling the dumping site.

The SMC started dumping its waste at the landfill site at Khajod in
2002. About 4 lakh tonnes of waste was generated in just four days
during the 2006 floods in the city.

“We used to dump the
collected waste till 2012 by digging huge holes into the land. After
2012 we have begun throwing our waste into the landfill sites,” said EAH
Pathan, executive engineer, solid waste, SMC.

Dumping waste by digging holes into the ground is called cruel dumping. This method has turned the 40 hectare of land useless.

SMC plans to rejuvenate at least 25 hectare of land. “We plan to re-use
this land and would like to generate either manure or gas from the
waste there,” Pathan said. There is plan to create a green belt too in
some part of the landfill site.

So far, no local body in the
country has attempted to rejuvenate its landfill sites. SMC would be the
first one to do so whenever it launches this project, sources said.

“We have invited consultancy offers from private parties. We are
hopeful of launching the project by the end of this financial year,” a
SMC official said.