CUTTACK: A joint committee constituted by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has recommended that the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) take steps to scale down the micro compost centre (MCC) at Kapilaprasad and divert wet waste to a proposed 300 tonne-per-day compressed biogas (CBG) plant at Meherpalli.
The recommendations were made in a report submitted before the NGT East Zone Bench on September 11 following an inspection of the waste processing facilities at Kapilaprasad Housing Board Colony in Ward 67.
The tribunal has taken the report on record and fixed the matter for final hearing on October 16.
The committee, constituted by the tribunal on May 26, comprised representatives of the Khurda district administration and Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB).
Its inspection was conducted on July 3 by OSPCB Bhubaneswar regional officer Sohan Giri and additional district magistrate Ramesh Chandra Jena.
The inspection followed a petition by 71-year-old resident Rajkishore Swain, who alleged that two MCCs and a material recovery facility (MRF) in the colony were operating in violation of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 and without mandatory OSPCB authorisation. Advocates Sankar Prasad Pani and Ashutosh Padhy represented the petitioner.
The committee confirmed that the MCC was located in a predominantly residential locality, with residential plots in close proximity and the built-up colony surrounding the facility on multiple sides.
It recommended that BMC, within 60 days, submit the required application under Rule 16 of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 and seek consent to establish/operate under the Water Act, 1974 and Air Act, 1981, if the facility’s combined installed capacity exceeds 5 tonnes per day.
The panel also asked the Housing and Urban Development department, Bhubaneswar Development Authority to clarify the site’s land classification and City Development Plan status, including whether it was reserved as a Heritage Zone or functioned as a natural rainwater drainage channel.
Pending such clearances, BMC was told not to expand the facility’s capacity and to strengthen odour and vector-control measures, besides ensuring treatment of leachate before discharge. It also recommended installation of a functional storm water and leachate management system.
The committee noted that BMC, in partnership with Oil India Ltd, is developing the 300 TPD CBG plant at Meherpalli, with commercial production targeted for April 2027.
It recommended the BMC to examine the extent to which wet waste presently routed to the Kapilaprasad MCC can be diverted to Meherpalli after commissioning, enabling phased scaling-down of the Kapilaprasad facility and a permanent resolution of the odour and siting grievances.