Pune: How ‘lethargic’ civic body allowed biogas plants in the city to sit on waste

The Pune Municipal Corporation has been struggling to tackle the city’s garbage problem. Pune Newsline zeroed in on the tall claims of the PMC about solid waste management, only to come across a harsh ground reality.

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City MNS on Wednesday staged agitation outside the residence of mayor Mukta Tilak by dumping waste in protest of garbage being piled up across the city.

THE Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has received praise for its efforts to decentralise waste management by setting up 25 biogas plants across the city. However, five of the biogas plants are non-functional while the remaining are not operating to their full capacity. The initiative to set up biogas plants, to process five tonnes of wet kitchen waste every day, was taken up years ago. Initially, the move was opposed by local residents due to the inability of the civic administration to ensure their maintenance and operation, leading to foul smell in the area.

Later, the efforts gained momentum, with 25 biogas plants being set up in different parts of the city. The PMC had spent Rs 16 crore on setting up the plants, and incurred an expenditure of Rs 1.5 crore on their repair and maintenance. As per the civic administration, the biogas plants had the capacity to process a total of 125 tonnes of waste daily, but only 80 tonnes were being processed. “Five of the 25 biogas plants are completely non-functional while the rest are not fully operational. So, only 80 tonnes of wet waste are being processed in these plants,” said Vivek Velankar of Sajag Nagrik Manch.

The reason being cited for the non-functional biogas plants was the failure of the civic administration to appoint new contractor, after the expiry of the contract of the previous one, said Velankar. Meanwhile, the civic administration said they have been facing problems while operating the processing plants, because of the delay in appointment of contractors as well as due to the opposition by locals, who complained of the foul stench in the area and movement of garbage containers to deposit waste.

“The PMC has not given up the decentralisation of waste processing within the city… but because of the… opposition by locals, there are problems in implementing it,” said Suresh Jagtap, joint municipal commissioner and in-charge of solid waste management, PMC.
The ruling BJP admitted that biogas plants in the city were not fully operational. “I have directed the civic administration to appoint an agency to operate the completely closed biogas plants and ensure that all plants are run on full capacity,” said Srinath Bhimale, BJP leader and leader of the House in PMC.

He said a five-tonne biogas plant has been made operational at Narhe, while they were planning to increase the capacity of a processing plant at Vadgaon Budhurk. “The corporators would also be asked to identify locations within their electoral panel to set up new biogas plants, as that is the only solution to process the waste generated within the city…,” said Bhimale.

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