Mohali MC demands approach road to Dera Bassi biogas plant

The proposed biogas plant will help alleviate Mohali’s trash troubles by converting wet waste from six urban local bodies — Mohali, Banur, Zirakpur, Dera Bassi, Lalru and Nayagaon — into compressed biogas, which can be used as fuel in vehicles

The Mohali municipal corporation (MC) has written to the panchayati raj department director to construct an approach road from Link Road to the compressed biogas (CBG) plant at Samgauli village in Dera Bassi as tipper trucks are unable to reach or ply on the unmetalled road.

Since June this year, Mohali has been reeling under a waste management crisis as the Phase 8-B dumpsite was closed following a high court rap. (HT Photo)

The MC House on August 22 had passed a resolution to float a tender for the construction of a CBG plant at Samgauli.

The proposed biogas plant will help alleviate Mohali’s trash troubles by converting wet waste from six urban local bodies — Mohali, Banur, Zirakpur, Dera Bassi, Lalru and Nayagaon — into compressed biogas, which can be used as fuel in vehicles.

The project is struggling to get bidders despite repeated tenders.

Officials of Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) visited the site last month and expressed interest. But there has been no further development or communication from the big players.

A municipal corporation officer on the condition of anonymity said the bidders, during a pre-bid meeting, raised concerns over the poor road infrastructure and connectivity near the said plant.

“Due to poor and unmetalled roads, it becomes really difficult for the vehicles, especially tipper trucks, to reach the plant site. We have thus requested the director of panchayati raj department to get the roads constructed. This will take a lot of time though,” the officer said, adding that there was no further communication from both GAIL and HPCL.

The project has been hanging fire for the last 10 years. The Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) had allotted the 39-acre space in Samgauli to MC in 2013 for waste management, but the latter failed to make use of it.

The firm that bags the tender will set up the plant at a cost of around ₹27 crore in 15 months and operate it for 20 years, paying a yet-to-be-decided royalty to MC.

Since June this year, Mohali has been reeling under a waste management crisis as the Phase 8-B dumpsite was closed following a high court rap. This had left MC’s 14 resource management centres (RMCs) in the city overflowing with waste, prompting the civic body to suspend garbage collection from GMADA areas.

For years, the RMCs have been tackling over 150 tonnes of garbage on a daily basis, a significant portion of which comes from GMADA areas. While most of the waste was processed, some of it was dumped at the Phase 8-B site, leading to the accumulation of around 2.5 lakh cubic metres of legacy waste. But keeping with the HC order, the Phase 8-B site is now used only for bioremediation of legacy waste.

A Panchkula-based contractor has been hired temporarily to process the collected waste at the 14 RMCs. Both MC and GMADA are paying ₹1,090 per tonne to the private contractor.