NMC cancels waste to energy, bio-CNG projects

Union minister Nitin Gadkari had suggested the NMC develop waste to energy project.

The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has cancelled the proposed waste to energy and waste to bio-CNG projects. It will continue with compost, material recovery facility (MRF) and reuse of construction and demolition waste projects.

The civic body has terminated the contact with Nagpur Solid Waste Processing and Management Private Ltd (NSWPMPL), a joint venture of Noida’s Essel Infraprojects Limited, and Japan’s Hitachi Zosan India Private Ltd for waste to energy project. It has also forfeited bank guarantee of Rs5 crore. The NMC has floated a new tender for scientific disposal of remaining garbage through bio-mining.

NMC sources told TOI, “Municipal commissioner Tukaram Mundhe submitted a proposal with the state government to revise city’s solid waste management plan under the central government’s Swachh Bharat Mission a couple of days ago. The waste to bio-CNG project was supposed to be developed with a capacity of 500 metric tonnes (MT). It has been dropped by terming it as ‘unviable’. The entire wet waste from 1,100 MT will be used for compost. MRF will take care of dry waste. Apart from these two, a project has been planned to process and reuse construction and demolition.”

Union minister Nitin Gadkari had suggested the NMC to develop waste to energy project. Accordingly, NSWPMPL was given the contract on May 4, 2017, to treat 800 MT garbage and generate 11.5 MW power. The plant was supposed to be commissioned on January 7 this year.

The NMC had served a show cause notice to NSWPMPL and revised the plan to go for waste to bio-CNG and compost. Accordingly, the government approved it and also released funds of Rs 48.10 crore in January.

The waste to bio-CNG project was also suggested by Gadkari. The plan was to use bio-CNG in city buses run by the NMC.

After approval from the government, the NMC will float tenders for compost and MRF projects. As the project to treat and reuse construction and demolition waste is not under Swachh Bharat Mission, the NMC is likely to begin its tender soon.

In another development, the NMC has floated a tender for treatment and scientific disposal of 6 lakh MT garbage lying idle at Bhandewadi dumping yard for years. The treatment will be done as per bio-mining system. Some of the garbage is lying dumped in landfill site and will be cleared for systematic development in future.

Last year, the NMC had appointed a private agency for bio-mining of 10 lakh MT garbage. The agency has reportedly done bio-mining of around 1.6 MT garbage till now.