Bharyal waste plant fails to generate green power

Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 5

Even after one year of its commissioning, the Rs 42-crore waste-to-energy plant at Bharyal has failed to generate green energy. Heaps of garbage at the site has made the lives of residents miserable.

The Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) has also failed to redesign the landfill site.

Mayor Kusum Sadret, who visited the site recently, found that the plant was not being run properly.

Residents in the vicinity of the plant said the rainy season had added to their woes as the stink from the plant had made it difficult for them to breathe.

Interestingly, the functioning of the plant is also being monitored by the National Green Tribunal (NGT). Sources said in a hurry to commission the plant, the company had procured old gas-generating equipment from Delhi in August last year, which had failed to function properly.

The garbage site has become a breeding ground for flies and mosquitoes. Commuters on the Shimla-Jubbarhatti airport route have a tough time crossing the stretch.

Sources said the target was to generate 1.5 MW of green energy from refuse-derived fuel (RDF) being generated in the plant everyday. During a recent inspection by representatives of the State Pollution Control Board, the latter also found that the plant was not being run properly. It served notices on the SMC and the company in this regard.

“The SMC has been asked to redesign the landfill site to prevent leakages and breeding of flies and mosquitoes,” said a senior environment engineer with the pollution control board.

Sources say since the company is now getting four gasification machines from Germany, it is selling the RDF to the Ambuja cement plant that uses it as a fuel in its plant.

The Mayor said the SMC had started the fumigation process to prevent the breeding of flies and mosquitoes. She added that the company had also been directed to run the plant properly.

MC project manager MP Singh said the process to redesign the landfill site was underway. “ The company is expected to install new machines by December to produce green energy”, he added.

The Bharyal plant

• As per the agreement, the SMC gives 76 tonnes to 80 tonnes of waste, including three-four tonne from Solan town, to the plant daily.
• The company generates 30-32 tonne of refuse-derived fuel everyday, which is being sold to the Ambuja cement plant.
• The plant is expected to produce 1.5 MW of electricity everyday and reduce the garbage to ash.