Waste-to-energy plant hangs fire

Nitish Sharma

Tribune News Service

Ambala, December 4

The project to transform a defunct solid waste treatment plant into an integrated cluster based waste-to-energy plant at Patvi has been put on the backburner.

Constructed at an initial cost of Rs 12 crore, the Municipal Corporation had signed an operation and management agreement with a New Delhi-based company, but the project was shut down shortly after its inauguration in 2008, as the Union Ministry of Environment did not gave clearance to the project.

The plant was built to treat 70-metric tonnes of solid waste daily, besides generating 5 MW and producing organic fertiliser from the waste.

The quality of organic fertiliser was not satisfactory and it turned out to be a loss-making entity. A series of objections and litigation cropped up between the company and the MC. Though the civic body won by the legal battle, but instead of reviving the plant, the state government decided to transform the plant into an integrated waste-to-energy plant in 2017.

Besides Ambala, waste from Kurukshetra district was also to be processed and managed in the plant.

As per information, the tenders were floated twice, but due to inadequate bids, the tenders couldn’t be released. Now, the higher authorities (Urban Local Bodies) are also reviewing the terms and conditions of the tender to attract more bidders.

The plant is currently being used as dumping ground only. Patvi plant is an important project for the district as it would help the district in managing over 300 tonnes of waste that Ambala generates in a day.

Ambala MC Commissioner Sushil Kumar said, “The matter is at the headquarter’s level. Tenders were floated earlier too, but it failed to attract adequate bids. A fresh tender will be floated soon.”