To allay fears over waste management, Dadu Majra residents visit Goa plants
Chandigarh, June 29
A delegation led by Mayor Anup Gupta, Municipal Corporation (MC) Commissioner Anindita Mitra, councillors, officers and residents of Dadu Majra visited the solid waste management plants at North and South Goa.
The tour was undertaken to understand the system and process of municipal solid waste management at Goa and learn from the practices being followed at the plant.
The Mayor said Goa was selected for the study tour as both plants there have been designed by National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and are monitored by the premier research institute till date. It is pertinent to mention that the proposed integrated solid waste management (ISWM) plant in Chandigarh has been designed as per technology recommendations made by NEERI. The detailed project report (DPR) and request for proposal (RFP) have also been vetted by NEERI.
The ISWM plant at North Goa is a 250 TPD capacity plant, the one at South Goa is a 100 TPD capacity plant. Both plants process wet waste to produce compressed biogas, which is used for producing electricity.
The Commissioner said biogas so produced can either be used to produce compressed natural gas (CNG) or electricity. She further said the design of the proposed ISWM plant at Chandigarh also allows further processing of the by-product from the Bio CNG, if concessionaire desires.
At both plants in Goa, dry waste after intensive secondary segregation into 14 categories of separate recyclable fractions is processed to produce refuse-derived fuel (RDF) and other recyclables, which are supplied as fuel to cement plants and authorised recyclers.
Allaying the fears of residents of Dadu Majra, the Mayor said both plants at Goa are situated on erstwhile dumping grounds. The legacy waste lying there was bio remediated. Thereafter, the waste processing plants and sanitary landfill sites were set up on the land reclaimed as such.
The residents of Dadu Majra visited the state of the art plant in South Goa today and found that there was no foul odour even within the premises of the plant. A natural choe in the area used to have leachate flowing through it, but now has clean water flowing there.
All the runoff as well as effluent produced from the plant is treated onsite with effluent treatment plant of a 0.5 MLD capacity. Treated water is then used in wet waste processing, watering plants, and floor washing inside the plant. The residual sludge is then composted and the compost produced odour free and of good quality.
The Commissioner said as getting environmental clearance is mandatory as per the Government of India, the same shall be taken before setting up the plant. This shall ensure that all norms with regard to emissions are met with.
The Mayor said the ISWM plant at Chandigarh would give the city a much needed relief from the problems created due to dumping of unprocessed waste.
Plants close to human habitation
Both plants are very close to human habitation. A human settlement of around 50,000 people starts 100 metres away from the boundary wall of the North Goa Plant. Similarly, the 30,000 strong human settlement starts within 20 metres from the boundary wall of the South Goa Plant. The plant at South Goa is also adjacent to a government polytechnic college and the Civil Court.
