KOLKATA: The New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) on Friday started putting waste inputs into its first bio-methane plant in New Town. The plant will convert five tonnes of organic waste every day generated in the township to gas and then to electricity from March that will be used to fire up streetlights.
The plant that has been set up on 1.5 acres, close to the canal near Balaka Abason, will recycle and process five tonnes out of the nearly 50 tonnes of daily waste that is produced in New Town.
“The plant has started taking in organic waste input. There are six chambers to store the waste for some days before it could start producing gas, which is expected from mid-March,” said an official, adding that the plant will prevent an estimated 1,500 tonne of carbon dioxide emission into the atmosphere when it starts running at full capacity.
The wet waste digested in the bio gas plant will convert the residual slurry into about 450kg of ready-to-use organic fertilizer every day. This would be used for horticulture and landscaping. The plant is expected to generate 600 to 650cubic metre of bio-gas per day with the potential to replace about 250 to 290kg LPG per day, officials said.
Officials said that this project is being taken as a pilot project and further such bio gas plants will be set up across New Town in a decentralized manner depending on how the pilot project runs. The planning wing of Hidco has already started the process to identify such locations in the outskirts of New Town away from the residential pockets.
NKDA has already introduced waste segregation at source in New Town and has set up a ‘Zero waste shop’ where people can deposit their waste including used and old clothes, cellphones and other goods that will be churned out to innovative products which people can buy.
Officials said that the daily generated waste was no longer being dumped at Mollar Bheri as per orders of the National Green Tribunal. “The daily generated waste is now being sent to Dhapa where KMC as well as Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation and Nabadiganta authorities are also disposing off the waste generated in their jurisdiction area,” an official said.