The Hindu 19.07.2013
Udupi to use green tech to process garbage
Proposes to set up a vermicompost unit and a biomethanation plant
Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC) is laying emphasis on green technology to process the garbage generated in the city.
The
CMC is planning to install a vermicompost plant and a biomethanation
plant to process biodegradable waste. The vermicompost plant will have a
capacity to process four tonnes per day, and the capacity of the
biomethanation plant will be two tonnes per day.
Udupi
city generates around 58 tonnes of garbage per day. Presently this
garbage is being processed at the Solid Waste Management Plant located
on 22 acres of land in Alevoor village near the city. The CMC would be
taking up a pilot project of waste segregation at source in 3,000 houses
in a monthThe vermicompost plant will be set up on 10 cents of land at
the Alevoor Solid Waste Management Plant. According to CMC Environment
Engineer M.K. Subrahmanya, the vermicompost plant will have two sheds –
one with 24 pits and the other with 21 pits. Four tonnes of
biodegradable waste would be put in a pit every day. “Farmers and people
with gardens could use this vermicompost. We expect to make Rs. 48,000
per day by selling the vermicompost,” he said.
The
vermicompost plant is estimated to cost Rs. 29 lakh and is expected to
come up in six months. A minimum of two labourers would be required to
look after the plant.
Biomethanation
The biomethanation plant will be established on five cents of land at Beedinagudde here and is estimated to cost Rs. 33 lakh.
Here
two tonnes of biodegradable waste would be converted into slurry, which
would then be fed into the digester of the biomethanation plant. Mr.
Subrahmanya said the waste would decompose in two days and start
emitting methane. This methane would be passed into a generator, which
will produce 15 KV of power per day. A separate power line will be drawn
from this generator and the power generated would be used to light 100
street lamps. In addition, the compost generated from his plant could
also be sold.
Here the CMC expects to make Rs. 2 lakh
per year by selling the compost and also save on electricity bill. “We
are yet to get technical sanction from the State government for this
plant. It may take a minimum of one year for this plant to come up,” Mr.
Subrahmanya said.
“Besides utilising waste in an
eco-friendly manner, we want to use green technology to promote a clean
environment,” said CMC Commissioner Gokuldas Nayak.