Work on Bandhwari waste plant likely to start by December end: Ecogreen

GURURGRAM: Construction work on the waste-to-energy (WTE) plant, which was inaugurated by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar in December last year, will start by December 31 this year.
Representatives of waste management concessionaire Ecogreen have informed the nine-member committee constituted by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to look into the Bandhwari matter that the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the plant will be given to a private agency by December 15.
“Ecogreen has given assurances that work on the WTE will begin by December end. It is the best solution in the current scenario for waste processing. It requires minimum space and also produces energy. The traditional methods require more space and monitoring. We have seen several examples of WTE as a successful model to follow. We will keep a check so that the deadline now given by Ecogreen is adhered to,” said Anil Mehta, MCG consultant (engineer) for the Swachh Bharat Mission.
MCG officials said Ecogreen is yet to complete the formalities related to environmental clearance and financial closure to set up the WTE plant at the site. The landfill site at Bandhwari has nearly 28 acres of land, out of which MCG has handed over 10 acres to Ecogreen for the plant.
When the foundation stone of the plant was laid on December 10 last year, MCG officials had said the 15 MW plant would generate six lakh units of electricity every day once operational.
Khattar had earlier laid the foundation stone of the plant on April 13, 2018. Ecogreen got environmental clearance for the 15 MW project from the Union ministry of environment, forests and climate change in 2019.
The concessionaire, however, cited space constraints at Bandhwari and the Covid-19 pandemic as the reasons for delay in starting the work on the plant.
“We were waiting for the environmental clearance to install a 25 MW WTE plant. We haven’t yet received that clearance, but we have the clearance for a 15 MW plant. The process for finalising the EPC contract is underway. We will start the work on the site by December end,” said Sanjay Sharma, deputy CEO, Ecogreen.
A delegation of the MCG officials had in July this year visited the WTE plant in Sonipat. The delegation had concluded that MCG requires more land to set up a sanitary landfill and wet waste composting plant to make the WTE plant at Bandhwari successful. The Sonipat WTE plant is spread over 40 acres of land.