To process the organic waste generated at the uzhavar sandhai (farmers’ market) in R.S. Puram and a few eateries in the vicinity, the Coimbatore Corporation is constructing a vermi compost plant and will soon take up construction of a biogas plant. The market generated two to two-and-a-half tonne waste a day on weekdays and a little over three tonnes a day on weekends.
To process the waste, the Corporation will soon construct a biogas plant with a capacity to process 1.50 tonnes waste a day. It will use the remaining one or one-and-half tonne waste a day to prepare compost at the vermi compost plant.
Officials involved in the project say that a Swiss funding agency through the Swiss Embassy is financing the project with help from NGO ICLEI. The project cost is estimated at ₹ 45 lakh. The funding agency has identified a contractor to build the plant and the work will begin in the next few days. The contractor, based out of Bengaluru, is expected to complete the work in eight to nine weeks and 40 to 45 days thereafter, the biogas generation will begin.
The biogas plant is expected to generate more than 100 units a day, which will be used to power the vermi compost plant, an eatery there and the market itself.
The officials say that the Swiss agency is fully funding the project and is responsible for maintaining the plant for six months after commissioning. As for the vermi compost plant, the officials say that the construction is almost complete and processing of waste will begin in the next few days. The Corporation has spent ₹ 69 lakh for the purpose.
Once the compost generation picks up, the Corporation has plans to sell the manure at the farmers market, they add.