Journalism of Courage
IN order to tackle the growing menace of urban solid waste, the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has decided to develop a multi-pronged approach to the issue. Plans to undertake institutional segregation of the garbage, and set up a waste-to-energy plant, were in the pipeline to find a permanent solution to the problem, said Seema Savale, chairperson of the PCMC Standing Committee.
Currently, the cash-rich corporation dumps nearly 800 Metric Tonnes (MT) of mixed solid waste at the landfill site in Moshi. Due to continuous dumping of garbage, the quality of groundwater as well that of air in the region has deteriorated significantly. Efforts to push for compulsory segregation at the household levels have not been successful, and most of the garbage at the Moshi site is unsegregated.
Savale said the problem has to be tackled in multiple ways to generate a permanent solution. “To reduce the quantum of garbage being dumped at Moshi, we have decided to push for segregation of garbage at the source,”she said.
Institutional waste — generated by hotels, canteens, slaughter houses — would be treated separately while the solid waste generated from households would be dumped at the Moshi site. Savale said the institutional waste would be used as fuel for the biogas plant in Talegaon.
The civic body has already issued tenders for commissioning of the plant, which will take care of approximately 100 MT of garbage per day.
The corporation has also been grappling with the issue of disposal of construction debris, which are either dumped in Moshi or dumped next to rivers or roads, indiscriminately. The cash-rich civic body generates around 150 MT of construction debris per day.
“Tenders will be floated for a project that will see concrete bricks being constructed out of this,” said Savale.
To dispose the bulk of garbage, the civic body also proposes to set up a mega waste-to-energy plant. “We will be floating an international tender for the construction of such a plant at Moshi,” she said.
The project is estimated to cost between Rs 500-1,000 crore. A pre-bid conference had seen participation by international players from USA and Germany, who shared their thoughts about the matter.
Another major issue that the plant plans to tackle is the conversion of 3-4 lakh tonnes of garbage that has already been dumped at Moshi. “We need to treat that garbage also, so that the landfill site becomes free. The plant in question will also take in consideration the future need of the city,” said Savale.
