BENGALURU: Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara intends to revive the existing waste-to-energy plants in the city and set up a new one of much larger capacity.Waste-to-energy plants generate electricity from waste. In a meeting on Tuesday with officials of civic agencies and members of the firm Sataram, the Bengaluru Development Minister said Sataram could operate the plant at Kannahalli on an experimental basis, and then begin a new project at Nelamangala. Sataram operates 14 such plants across the world.
Parameshwara said some time was needed to examine the working of such a plant and this could be done by starting a pilot project at Kannahalli. He said, in a few days, the installation of these plants would be approved by the Cabinet.
Joint Commissioner (Solid Waste Management) of BBMP Sarfaraz Khan, who also attended the meeting, said out of the 13 plants set up, six were functional in the city, all of them of a comparatively small capacity of 5 tonnes, and none of them function properly. The plant proposed at Nelamangala is of 1,000 tonnes capacity. Another plant of the same capacity at Mavallipura is pending approval for months.
Khan said Sataram was about to begin a plant at Magadi, but the move was stopped after locals protested against setting up of the plant. “About four months ago, we held a meeting with the locals there, who said they wanted the plant to be set up in some other area first. If the other plant worked well, they said they would agree to set up a plant in their area too.”
At the meeting, Parameshwara told officials from Sataram that he would speak to the locals at Magadi to convince them to allow them to set up a plant in the area. Khan said once approved, it would take about 18 months for operations to begin.