Gurgaon: The Central Pollution Control Board, in a recent report submitted to the National Green Tribunal (NGT), has said the MCG has not been able to utilise the full capacity of trommels installed at the Bandhwari waste plant.
Every day nearly 2,000 tonnes of solid municipal waste — 1,200 tonnes from Gurgaon and 800 tonnes from Faridabad — gets added to the site, which already has about 35 lakh tonnes of untreated garbage.
According to the report, 1,17,214 tonnes of legacy waste have been bio-remediated till December 31, last year. Also, of the total 33 lakh tonnes waste, only 66,982 tonnes bio-remediated legacy waste has been processed through trommels in the past one year.
The board, on January 11, also said that the bio-remediation process is being carried out in the open at the plant and in the absence of a shed, the work might get hampered during rain.
CPCB had inspected the site on September 18 and at that time, the height of the garbage was 36 m and the weight was 31 lakh tonnes. Now, the highest point at the dump yard is 40 m and the quantity of waste has increased to about 33 lakh tonnes.
The CPCB has also observed that if the plants run continuously at full capacity, then seven ponds with 33,000 KLD leachate may be emptied out in 165 days and the empty space may then be used for installation of more trommels and a waste-to-energy plant. Environmental clearance for such a project had come in November, 2019.
Asked about the Bhandwari plant, an MCG official said they are working on a plan to treat the leachate waste as soon as possible. “We will be able to treat it by April this year,” an official said.
According to environment activists, more than 60% waste in India is food waste that has high moisture content. “The calorific value of mixed waste in Indian cities, including Gurgaon and Faridabad, is too low to be burnt efficiently. Many waste-to-energy plants across the country have shut down for this reason,” said Zenith Choudhary, an activist.
Most of the few plants that are operating flout environmental norms, she added.