Residents of Daddumajra visit South Goa Plant. To visit the North Goa Plant tomorrow

*Mayor accompanies the delegation, addresses key issues regarding setting up of the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plant in Chandigarh*

A delegation led by Mayor, Anup Gupta, Commissioner Municipal Corporation with Anindita Mitra, IAS, Councillors of Municipal Corporation, officers and residents of Daddumajra, visited the Solid Waste Management Plants situated at North and South Goa respectively.

The study tour was undertaken to understand the system and process for municipal solid waste management at Goa and learn from the good practices being followed at the plant. Sh Anup Gupta, Mayor Chandigarh said that Goa was selected for the study tour as both the Plants have been designed by NEERI and both are also monitored till date by the premier Research Institute. It is pertinent to mention that the proposed Integrated Solid Waste Management Plant in Chandigarh has been designed as per technology recommendations made by NEERI. The DPR and RFP have also been vetted by NEERI.

The ISWM plant at North Goa is of a capacity of 250 TPD whereas the one situated at South Goa is of 100 TPD. Both the plants process their wet waste to produce compressed Biogas which is used for producing electricity. Ms Anindita Mitra IAS Municipal Corporation Chandigarh said that Biogas so produced can either be used to produce Compressed Natural Gas(CNG) or Electricity. She further clarified that the design of proposed ISWM plant at Chandigarh also allows further processing of by product from the Bio CNG, if Concessionaire desires.

At both the Goa Plants, dry waste after intensive secondary segregation into 14 categories of seperate recyclable fractions is processed to produce RDF and other recyclables, which is supplied as fuel to Cement Plants and authorised recyclers.

Allaying the fears of residents of Daddumajra, Sh Anup Gupta said that both the Plants of Goa are situated on erstwhile dumping grounds. The legacy waste lying there was bio remediated. Thereafter, the Waste processing plants and Sanitary Land fill sites were set up on the land reclaimed as such.

Further, both Plants are very close to human habitation. The human settlement of 50000, starts from 100 mtrs from the boundary wall of the North Goa Plant. Similarly, the 30000 strong human settlement starts within 20 mtrs from the boundary wall of the South Goa Plant. The plant at South Goa is also adjacent to a Government polytechnic college and the Civil Court.

The Residents of Daddumajra visited the State of Art Plant in South Goa today and found that there was no foul odour even within the premises of the Plant. A natural choe which flows through the area, which used to have leachate flowing through it, now has clean water flowing.

All the runoff as well as effluent produced from the plant is treated onsite with ETP of 0.5MLD Capacity. Treated water is then used in wet waste processing, watering plants , and floor washing inside the plant.

Composting is done from the residual sludge. It was found that the compost this produced was odour free and of good quality.

Ms Anindita Mitra IAS, Municipal Commissioner, further clarified that as Environmental Clearance is mandatory as per Government of India, the same shall be taken before setting up the plant. This shall ensure that all norms wrt emissions are met with.

Finally, Sh Anup Gupta said that the setting up of this Integrated Solid Waste Management Plant in Chandigarh, shall give the residents of Daddumajra and the city, a much needed relief from the problems created due to dumping of unprocessed waste.