Pact to set up solid waste-processing plant at dump site

Bhubaneswar: The BMC on Wednesday signed an MoU with Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) to set up municipal solid-waste processing plant.
The OUAT provided a 2.5-acre land to the BMC, which will take up the construction. This is a major boost to solid waste handling as BMC now has to process its waste instead of dumping it in the yard.
The BMC had promised the villagers that after stopping waste transportation it will bio-mine the old waste. The bio-mining will help reclaim the land and also fill the void (crater) that was created to dump waste.
“Bio-mining is a long process. The waste piled up will be segregated and processed. The private party, which has taken up the contract, will sell the manure and give back the sale proceeds to BMC,” said BMC additional commissioner Suvendu Sahu. The bio-mining will take three years, according to the agreement.
Officials said the government will spend Rs 100 crore for the project, which will be done for the first time in the state.
In November 2021, the bio-mining plan got cabinet approval but the work couldn’t progress because of protests by the villagers as BMC, according to them, cannot start bio-mining till waste dumping was stopped.
Apart from the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the Centre had also asked the states in connection with treating legacy waste.
“The bio-mining of waste will help segregate different types of waste. While the household waste, once separated, will be processed for making on-site compost, the hard materials such as metals and plastic will be extracted for recycling,” Sahu added.
The OUAT plant can handle more than 200 metric tonnes waste daily. The manure extracted from the waste there will be in the use of OUAT that conduct reaches on agriculture.
The OUAT will also use the plants for the purpose of research.