Horticulture waste plant inaugurated in Chandigarh

Chandigarh administrator Banwarilal Purohit on Tuesday inaugurated a horticulture waste processing plant at Industrial Area, Phase-2; the plant has been set over an area of 1.5 acres on the premises of an existing sewerage treatment plant site

Chandigarh administrator Banwarilal Purohit on Tuesday inaugurated a horticulture waste processing plant at Industrial Area, Phase-2.

UT administrator Banwarilal Purohit inaugurating the horticulture waste processing plant in the presence of Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher, adviser Dharam Pal and mayor Sarbjit Kaur (Keshav Singh/HT)

The plant has been set over an area of 1.5 acres on the premises of an existing sewerage treatment plant site. The total project order cost is ₹3.5 crore, which covers the cost of operation and maintenance for one year, officials said. The plant, which has the capacity to process 30-40 tonnes of waste per day, will turn raw horticulture waste into briquettes — a compressed block of coal dust or other combustible biomass material used for fuel.

While addressing the gathering, Purohit said the generation of horticulture waste is increasing in the city and to avoid dumping of green waste due to the pruning of trees, the horticulture waste processing plant is an asset to the city beautiful.

He said that earlier, horticulture waste was dumped in landfills, but it will now be processed in a scientific manner to produce combustible products. He said that the recycled products will generate income as they can be sold to various industrial units.

Kirron Kher, member of Parliament, Chandigarh, said as far as liquid waste is concerned, all sewerage treatment plants are being upgraded and while two are already meeting norms, the remaining six will be upgraded shortly.