BHUBANESWAR: With the foul stench emanating from the ward-level micro composting centres (MCCs) making life miserable for the residents in the nearby areas, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to adopt the aerated composting technique to check the odour in the waste processing units.
Municipal Commissioner Vijay Amruta Kulange said the civic body has decided to go for bottom aeration of the pits for better odour management in the MCCs. Under this process honeycomb structured frames are placed at the bottom of the pit for better circulation of air during the composting process, he said.
The Commissioner said using the technique they will also be able to collect leachate, the major cause of foul smell in the MCCs, from the pits and dispose of it scientifically. The leachate percolating from the compost material will be collected in a tanker through pipes and will be shifted to treatment facilities.The civic body has already begun using this technology in a newly set up MCC.
Deputy Commissioner for Sanitation Suvendu Sahoo said all the existing MCCs and the upcoming ones will use the bottom aeration technique. The method is also cost-effective as only Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 is required to set up the system in a pit.
BMC officials said that based on the recommendations of a technical committee that had visited the MCCs in the city earlier this year, the civic body is also mulling use of turbofan, EM (effective microorganism) solution for composting and other advanced technologies to prevent foul smell at the units.
The BMC has constructed 34 MCCs and plans another 10 MCCs by March next year for disposal of waste generated locally at ward level. Currently, the MCCs are processing 200 tonne of waste every day and the civic body wants to double it in the future.