K R Market's Biogas Unit to be Functional Soon
After its Yelahanka biogas unit started generating electricity, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is all set to operate the biogas unit at K R Market.
When the garbage crisis worsened in 2012, the BBMP council approved setting up 12 biogas units across the city to convert wet waste into electricity. The civic body will utilise the electricity generated to power streetlights in the market area and for other purposes. Biogas units have also been proposed at Koramangala, Begur, Kudlu, Mathikere, Yediyur, Pattabhiramanagar and other areas. The Yelahanka unit is the first to generate electricity. The remaining units are at various stages of being commissioned.
The K R Market biogas unit has been set up on 600 sq mts at a cost of Rs 79 lakh. Maharashtra-based Ashok Biogreen Pvt Ltd will operate it under the BOOT (build-own-operate-transfer) system for three years. BBMP will pay them maintenance cost of `23.25 lakh for the period.
M R Venkatesh, chief engineer (solid waste management), BBMP, said K R Market generates 20 tonnes of segregated waste every day. “This new unit, with a capacity of five tonnes, can generate 50 kW of electricity. Bio-culture has been done and the unit will take 20 days to become operational,” he said. The remaining 15 tonnes of wet waste will be sent to the Karnataka Compost Development Corporation.
Market Gets a Cleaning
BBMP staff, along with pourakarmikas, participated in the K R Market cleaning drive on Monday. Mayor B S Sathyanarayana, who takes up the drive every Monday, had called it off for six weeks keeping in mind the Lok Sabha elections. According to a BBMP release, the initiative is in its 16th week and as many as 60 staff participated in the drive on Monday. The Mayor also visited the biogas unit at the market.