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Coming up: A plant to convert Panchkula’s wet waste into CNG
The decision in this regard was taken during the meeting of sanitation committee under the chairmanship of Panchkula mayor Kulbhushan Goyal
In an effort to tackle the city’s wet waste, the Panchkula municipal corporation will be setting up a plant that will process and convert the waste into compressed natural gas (CNG).
The decision in this regard was taken during the meeting of sanitation committee under the chairmanship of mayor Kulbhushan Goyal on Friday. Panchkula generates 200 tonnes of waste on a daily basis from about 70,000 households, of which 60% is wet waste, while rest is dry.
While deliberating on solid waste management, the committee also looked at solutions for managing wet waste and decided to set up a plant to convert it into CNG, a process also under consideration in Chandigarh through an integrated waste management plant at Dadumajra.
Panchkula MC has decided to set up the plant on 2 acres within villages Khatoli, Jaloli and Alipur where population is low. The CNG generated from the plant will be supplied to these villages. Currently, as part of a temporary arrangement, city’s entire waste is being sent to Patvi, Ambala, for processing. Previously, it was being dumped at Jhuriwala village.
“A consultant will be hired to chalk out a feasibility report for the new plant, along with the cost to be incurred. Expression of interest will be sought for a plant with capacity to tackle 150 tonnes of waste,” the mayor said.
As a stop-gap arrangement, currently MC is sending city’s daily waste for processing at Patvi, Ambala. This came about after residents of nine sectors in the trans-ghaggar area, Moginand, Bana and Madanpur villages sought removal of the landfill in Jhuriwala, owing to stench.
MC had shifted the dumping site from Sector 23 to Jhuriwala village in July 2021, which has led to 2.5 lakh tonnes of legacy waste on 10 acres. The corporation is also working on setting up a plant at Jhuriwala for biomining of this legacy waste.
Waste management under NGT’s watch
The move to consider setting up a plant for processing wet waste comes after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in May this year had come down heavily on Panchkula MC for failing to clear legacy waste from Jhuriwala and directed the Haryana chief secretary to review the progress personally.
The tribunal had said, “No accountability is fixed for gross failures even as MC is continuing to cause damage to the environment and public health. There is practically no progress in remediation of legacy waste at the Jhuriwala dumping ground. It is surprising that Panchkula, Kalka and Pinjore civic bodies are transporting waste to Patvi in Ambala. This cannot be sustained on a long-term basis and may lead to mismanagement.”
The NGT order had reiterated that the reclaimed land at Jhuriwala should be utilised for dense plantation in compliance with a previous order from April 20.
The tribunal had even imposed a fine of ₹10 crore on the Panchkula and Kalka municipal corporations for unscientific dumping of waste on the land allotted for solid waste management project at Jhuriwala village.
Segregation remains a concern
Even as MC is mulling wet waste management, the staff involved in door-to-door collection of garbage has a Herculean task of segregation. During the meeting, it was pointed out that the residents were not separating wet and dry garbage.
Ward 7 councillor Usha Rani also highlighted that the garbage collection vehicles were not going to colonies. “Small carts should be used to collect garbage from narrow streets to ensure proper sanitation in colonies,” the mayor said.
