Sambalpur Municipal Corporation mini compost plants to be ready this year

SAMBALPUR: Work on three mini compost plants is going on in full swing at two different places of the city.

Municipal solid waste will be utilised for production of compost from these plants. While two compost plants will come up at Khandual, another is being set up at Burla.

The projects are being executed by Sambalpur Municipal Corporation (SMC).

Assistant Executive Engineer Bipin Bihari Mohanty said each compost plant is being constructed over an area of 50 decimal land. The estimated cost for civil work of each plant is about Rs 49.98 lakh.

If everything goes as per plan, the civil work, which comprises construction of shed, base, approach road and electrification, of the compost plant at Burla will be completed by the end of August.

Work on two compost plants at Khandual will be completed by October end, he said. Each plant will have the capacity to produce five tonnes of compost per day.  

SMC Deputy Commissioner Subhankar Mohanty said a private firm has already been selected for operation and management of three plants.

The selected firm will be provided with shed and other facilities for installation of machineries at the three places. The firm will sell the compost in market to generate its revenue, he said.

Mohanty further said the SMC started door-to-door garbage collection service in June 2015. The service is now being provided to almost all the households in Sambalpur, Burla and Hirakud.

As many as 63 trolley-laden vehicles have been engaged to collect garbage. The biodegradable waste, which will be collected from households, will be put to use at the three compost plants, he said.

Sambalpur generates about 100 tonne of solid waste per day.

Mohanty has already started providing training to sanitation workers on how to segregate the biodegradable waste at source.

A target has been set to make the three compost plants operational by the end of this year, he added.