Faridabad MC identifies land for proposed conversion unit at Mothuka

Bijendra Ahlawat

Faridabad, July 20

The Municipal Corporation of Faridabad (MCF) has identified land for the proposed waste-to-energy plant at Mothuka village in the district. The proposed plant would convert processed solid waste into charcoal, said sources.

Failed attempts

• A thermal power plant was proposed to be set up at the same village in 2002-03, but the plan was abandoned due to technical reasons.
• The state government had also signed an MoU for setting up a waste-to-power plant at Bandhwari with a private company in 2017.
• However, the project could not be completed, and the contract with the firm was terminated this year due to poor work.

It is learnt that the civic bodies would maintain these plants. Although details of the land to be acquired are yet to be revealed, officials have stated that it is located near Mothuka village, about 20 km from Faridabad.

“The waste-to-coal plants turn municipal solid waste into the high calorific value of charcoal by means of a charcoal reactor. The process involves the thermal treatment of waste at 200-300°C, leading to the formation of a solid fuel that has properties similar to coal,” said an official.

He said although the proposal of the land identified at Mothuka was being forwarded to the state government, the acquisition of land and other works required for setting up the plant would be undertaken after the formal approval and as per the terms of the MoU.

A thermal power plant was proposed to be set up at the same village in 2002-03, but the plan was abandoned due to technical reasons.

The civic body is faced with the herculean task of the disposal and recycling of solid waste in the city as the NGT has banned the dumping of untreated waste at the Bandhwari landfill site, which is located on the Faridabad-Gurugram highway.

As the city generates around 900 tonnes of solid waste daily, the MCF has set up two waste processing plants with the combined capacity of 700 tonnes at two villages, following the ban on dumping of waste at the Bandhwari landfill. However, they are currently working on less than half of the capacity, due to which over 60 per cent of the waste is still being dumped at the old site.

The work for the collection and disposal of solid waste from Faridabad and Gurugram was outsourced to a private company. Besides, the state government had also signed an MoU for setting up a waste to power plant at Bandhwari with this firm in 2017. However, the project could not be completed, while the contract with the firm was terminated this year due to poor work.

Birender Kardam, Chief Engineer, Faridand MC said work on setting up the waste to energy plant would be done as per the directions of the government.