ONLY A MOUNTAIN OF WASTE, NO ENERGY

Bijendra Ahlawat 

The move to set up state’s first waste-to-energy power plant has been delayed by almost two-and-a-half years, due to inordinate time consumed in the approval of the project by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. 

A total of 10 MW power is slated to be produced from 1,400 tonne waste generated from Faridabad and its neighbouring city of Gurugram by Ecogreen, a Chinese company, which was given the contract of solid waste management in 2017.

The waste is dumped at Bandhwari village located on the Faridabad-Gururgam highway. Though the Rs 330 crore waste-to-energy plant, first of kinds in Haryana, whose MOU was signed in June 2017, has finally got the clearance after a wait of about 28 months, the setting up of the plant is likely to take another two years from now. 

However, it may result in the accumulation of more waste and a delay in the processing of the garbage, which has already taken the shape of a mountain. The 28-acre site has already come under sharp criticism from environment lovers over the issue of adverse impact of waste residue on the underground water and the land here due to the failure of the authorities concerned to process the waste properly and on time.

Yet to get formal nod

While revealing that the clearance has been given by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Virender Kardam, Superintending Engineer, Municipal Corporation Faridabad (MCF) said a formal communication in this regard was yet to be received. The foundation stone of the power project was laid by the Haryana CM on April 13 last year. Claiming that the main reason behind the delay had been basic conditions attached with the location of such a project in the region, as the authorities concerned had to amend certain conditions, a senior official of the civic body said the requirement of 8 km distance between such a project and a bird or a wildlife sanctuary had to be cut down to just over 2 km to ensure the approval of this project.

To generate 10 MW power 

The Municipal Corporations of Faridabad and Gurugram had signed an MOU for setting up the first integrated solid-waste management project of the state and had authorised Ecogreen, a Chinese company, to produce 10 MW power daily from the waste for the first time. The setting up of the waste-to-power plant was earlier expected to complete by June 2019. A project management unit was set up to monitor the progress and compliance with the penalty clause in case of any delay or violation of norms, it was announced at the time of signing of the MOU.

The state government allocated the project to Ecogreen for setting up the plant at Bandhwari village located on the Faridabad-Gurugram highway. It was claimed that the state-of-the-art plant would use the waste churned out from Faridabad and Gurugram. The first of its kind plant in the country is to work on output based incentive, in which the power produced by the plant will be purchased at a rate of Rs 10.40 per unit. While the entire cost of the project was to be borne by the company, it is reported that the company will have a lease period of 22 years, which includes 18 months for setting up the plant.

Ecogreen had also been given the work of collecting, transporting, processing and disposing daily waste of over 1,400 tonne churned by Faridabad and Gurugram. Based on the PPP mode, the civic bodies of Faridabad and Gurugram would share a partial cost (Rs 3.35 per unit) of the cost of production of power from this plant. The authorities had announced that the power plant was expected to be functional within 19 months, though the total time provided for the purpose was around two years, on June 30, 2017, when the MOU was signed. 

MCF Commissioner Sonal Goel, who visited the Bandhwari site, had also pulled up the company officials for delay in processing the waste.

‘Dumping site a blot on environment’

Environment activists are unhappy with the delay over the processing of waste dumped at the Bandhwari village. Describing it as a blot on environment, Vivek Kamboj, an environment activist based in Gurugram, said while the dumping site was a violation of all norms, especially the rules connected with the forest and environment, the dumping of untreated waste at Bandhwari had crossed all limits as the leachate discharged by the waste had adversely affected the underground water already and the pollution caused by it had given a rise to cancer cases in the region. “Despite the assurances of recycling of waste by the authorities, the process has been marred by delays, forcing me to move the NGT in December 2015,” he said.

Spurt in cancer cases

Seeking the removal of the waste dumping site from the forest area of Aravallis, NGOs, including Save Aravali, have claimed that it had not only disturbed the ecology and underground water of the region, resulting in spurt in cancer cases in the villages falling in the close vicinity of the site, but also posed a threat to the wildlife in the area declared a forest zone by the government. 

According to Manoj Kumar, a resident of Bandhwari village, as many as 10 residents of the village have succumbed to cancer in the past 10-12 years. Claiming that the last death took place two years ago, he said residents have now installed ROs at their houses to escape such a threat and this has resulted in resurfacing of no fresh case in the last two years. He said despite the assurance to shift this dumping site to a remote area towards the west, it has not been done so far. The residents will continue to protest the functioning of the site or any power plant here, as he claimed that it was against environment norms. 

In a nutshell

• Ecogreen, a Chinese company, was given the contract of the solid waste management project in 2017
• 10 MW power slated to be produced from 1,400 tonne waste generated from the cities of Faridabad and Gurugram 
• The Rs 330 crore waste-to-energy plant is first of its kind in Haryana
• It will work on output based incentive, in which the power produced by the plant will be purchased at a rate of Rs 10.40 per unit
• The MOU was signed in June 2017, which finally got clearance after a wait of about 28 months. The setting of the power plant is likely to take another two years from now
• While the entire cost of the project was to be borne by the company, it is reported that the company will have a lease period of 22 years, which includes 18 months for setting up the plant
• Based on the PPP mode, the Faridabad and Gurugram MCs will share a partial cost (Rs 3.35 per unit) of the cost of production of power from this plant

What the NGT order says...

• In response to the petition filed by ecology activists, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in its order in July this year had directed the authorities concerned to treat and remove over 20 lakh tonne of legacy waste accumulated over the last decade at the Bandhwari landfill within six months. 
• The NGT also constituted a team of government officials to oversee the matter. 
• Additionally, the state government had been directed to deposit Rs 20 crore in an Escrow account (to be controlled by the Central Pollution Control Board), which may be forfeited in case of non-compliance with the Tribunal’s instructions. 
• Expressing dissatisfaction over the progress done so far in the matter of treatment of leachate at the site, Vivek Kamboj, an environment activist in Gurugram, said only cosmetic changes have come up as the main issue of treatment of waste liquid discharged here still stands tall. 
• The matter is likely to come up for hearing again this month in the NGT.

Officialspeak

‘Project likely to be completed within 20 months’

"The work on the power plant is on and it will be able to generate power after it is set up as per norms. The company has been identified as a preferred vendor through an international competitive bid process and all measures have been followed to keep a tab on the successful implementation of the project. The delay on the work of the power project has not been on the part of the state government but due to the fact that it required clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment, which was not in the control of the state government. The power project is likely to be complete within 18 to 20 months."

Anand Mohan Sharan, Principal Secretary, Urban Local Bodies