Five years on, Rs 330-cr power plant project hanging fire in Faridabad

Tribune News Service

Bijendra Ahlawat

Faridabad, August 26

The project to set up the first waste-to-power plant has failed to take concrete shape, owing to delay in approvals. Though a clearance was received in 2019, the project got stuck in the wake of ban on any fresh construction in the area covered under the the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA).

“The MoU for the Rs 330-crore waste-to-energy plant was signed in June 2017. The project is first of its kind in Haryana. The project had received environment clearances after a wait of 28 months in November 2020, but no progress has been made do date. The project later got entangled in the issue of illegal construction in the forest zone that got prominently flared after the Apex court order for the removal of encroachment in the zone covered by the PLPA last year,” claimed sources in the district administration.

MoU signed in 2017

The MoU was signed in June 2017. The project got environment clearances in November 2020, but no progress has been made. It later got entangled in the issue of illegal construction in the forest zone. —Sources, Dist Admn

Waste accumulated

The 10 MW project was upgraded to 25 MW last year. The delay has only led to the accumulation of waste of around 25 lakh tons, posing a threat to the environment and ground water. —Sunil Harsana, Environmental activist

Resolution soon

The process of the segregation of waste is under way in an environment-friendly technique. The matter has been in the knowledge of the CM office and a resolution is likely to be taken soon. —Yashpal Yadav, Deputy Commissioner

“With the ban on construction in the PLPA zone, especially in the vicinity of Asola wildlife sanctuary, the location of the proposed plant has emerged as a stumbling block. The proposed site is situated in the forest and is also close to the wildlife sanctuary,” said a senior official of the district administration.

The municipal corporations of Faridabad and Gurugram had signed an MoU for setting up the first integrated solid waste management project and had authorised a Chinese company, Ecogreen, to produce 10 MW of power from the waste daily.

The plant was expected to come up by June 2019.

“The 10 MW project was upgraded to 25 MW last year. The delay has only led to the accumulation of waste of around 25 lakh tonnes, posing a threat to the environment and underground water,” said Sunil Harsana, an environmental activist.

Sourced claimed that despite the site being already overfilled, around 2,000 tonnes of waste was dumped from Faridabad and Gurugram daily.

It is reported that the NGT had directed the authorities to treat and remove legacy waste accumulated here within six months in July 2019.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) Yashpal Yadav said the process of the segregation and bioremediation of waste was under way in an environment-friendly technique to separate soil and recyclables and treat lechete.

The DC added: “The process involves degrading the target pollutants without the use of any toxic chemicals to treat the legacy waste in a proper and scientific manner. The matter has been in the knowledge of the CM office and a resolution is likely to be taken soon.”

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