The Union Urban Development Ministry has submitted before the Standing Committee on Urban Development that a waste-to-energy plant being set up by the Delhi Power Department through the East Delhi Waste Processing Co. Ltd (EDWPCL) at the Ghazipur landfill site is now in an advanced stage of completion and the first phase of the plant is likely to become operational this month.
“During the first phase, the garbage will be converted into refused-derived fuel (RDF) and will be sold to various industries for its utilisation as fuel. In the second phase, the RDF so generated at the plant will be incinerated there itself to produce 10-12 MW of green electricity. The operation of the second phase may take another year. The East Delhi Municipal Corporation in compliance with a concession agreement signed with EDWPCL is required to supply 1,300 metric tonnes of garbage at the collection point of the plant,” said the Ministry in its reply.
The Ministry said the civic body had already provided a piece of land measuring about 10 acres to Gas Authority of India Limited for setting up of a pilot project for extracting methane and other gases from the Ghazipur dump site.
“The gas so extracted, if found of sufficient calorific value, will be utilised as fuel in various types of vehicles and if not, the gases will be flared up. The construction work of this plant is in an advanced stage,” said the Ministry in response to a question on whether it has any plans for scientific landfills capable of removing methane emissions and waste-to-energy projects.
The Ministry explained the steps taken to address the problems of communities which have been protesting the decision to locate new and bigger suburban dump-sites in their localities, which adversely impact groundwater, air quality and public health. The Ministry said under the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, no new land has been allotted for sanitary landfills during the past 12 years. “However, it has set up an integrated municipal solid waste facility at Narela-Bawana. The facility receives waste from the Civil Lines and Rohini zones.”
The East Delhi Municipal Corporation, it said, has proposed to set up a leachate recirculation facility. The leachate so generated will be collected in a water-sealed tank and re-circulated into the existing garbage, which would reduce the strength of leachate and thus help in resolving the problem of water pollution.
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation is already operating a waste-to-energy plant and one compost plant, which are consuming about 40 per cent of the municipal solid waste generated under its jurisdiction.
As for a query on what alternative steps were being taken, given that transportation and disposal of waste in landfills is expensive, the Ministry said the waste-to-energy technology is used in developed countries mostly where there is a shortage of land for waste treatment and disposal and/or the waste has high calorific value on account of large components of paper, plastic and packaging material besides others. However, in India, it said the process of some waste-to-energy projects was in the initial stage and that the viability and sustainability of the technology process and projects were still being established.
No comments:
Post a Comment