CHENNAI: Chennai city has always been criticised for its poor solid-waste management as the garbage mounds at city’s landfills appear more like skyscrapers. According to the Chennai Corporation, the city generates an average of 3,200 tonnes of garbage per day and what happens to this? In most cases, nothing.
The Officers Training Academy (OTA) has a population of at least 600 at any time of the year, and the cadet mess that serves around 450 cadets alone generates around 500 kg food waste per day. But, none of the bio-degradable waste goes out of the campus. This is a result of the biogas plant and other initiatives they have taken up this year, as a part of green cover project.
The biogas plant was set up by OTA at a cost of `30 lakh in February, this year. “Before the plant was set up, even we were disposing waste like others in the city, which did no good both to the campus and the environment. Around 450 cadets have all three meals in the mess and the food waste was a lot. So, we had decided to set up the plant, which now produces around 40 kg to 50 kg of gas equivalent to LPG on an average per day. As this gas is used for cooking, the requirement for LPG, whose prices are constantly spiralling lately, has come down,” said Brigadier MG Sekaran.
Not only this, the slush that is left after conversion of waste into bio-gas is used as a compost for the trees that are grown inside the campus. The gardener at OTA said the yield is considerably good after they started using slush for plants.
From herbs and climbers to indigenous tree species, the campus abounds with lush vegetation. While the evergreen Indian Beech or the Pungai, as it is known in Tamil, is a campus staple, one can spot a variety of hard wood and large-crowned trees in the campus.
With this, arises the issue of yard waste, comprising mostly leaf litter. Officers at OTA say at least 600 kg of leaf waste is generated per day. Previously, these leaves were raked into heaps and burnt inside the campus.
Last year, the campus officials set up a decentralised waste management unit where all the plant waste is converted into compost. “It takes 120 days for one heap of leaves to be converted into manure. Till date, we have made three tonnes of manure,” said one of the workers in the unit.
The commitment of the Academy in maintaining its greenery has resulted not only in zero-waste production, but also in the campus evolving into a refugium for many animals and plants typical to Chennai.
What is biogas?
Biogas is produced when organic matter biodegrades under anaerobic conditions (that is, in the absence of oxygen). This process produces a mixture of gases — primarily methane, some carbon dioxide and tiny portions of other gases such as hydrogen sulfide. When the biogas is filtered to remove the hydrogen sulfide, the resulting mixture can be burned as an energy source for cooking, lighting, or heating water or space. When compressed it can be used as fuel for vehicles. The primary benefit of biogas is that it is renewable.
Solar power unit soon at OTA
In another move towards saving environment, most of the lights in the campus have been changed to LED, saving `30 lakh per month. There are only 10-20 solar lamps remaining. Sources at the academy said they will commission a solar plant by February 2019 with a capacity of 800 kg. It is being done at a cost of `818 lakh.
