BHUBANESWAR: A biogas-based captive power plant will soon be set up in the vegetable market at Unit-I of the capital city for scientific processing of organic waste generated in the haat into green energy.
Officials from the BMC sanitation wing said, the corporation, as part of its sustainable waste management practices, has initiated measures to set up the treatment facility at Unit-I vegetable market in the next six to seven months. This apart, garbage transfer stations will also be constructed at six more places in the city.
BMC deputy commissioner for sanitation N Ganesh Babu informed that currently, about 16 to 17 tonne organic waste is being generated from the Unit-I haat, city’s largest vegetable retail and wholesale market. The biogas plant will be set up on a pilot basis on around 3,500 sq ft land within the micro composting site (MCC) complex of the haat for processing of the organic waste generated in the market. The generated biogas in the plant will be converted into electric power and transferred to public grid.
“The initial capacity of the plant will be 3 tonne per day (TPD). If found feasible, the capacity will be expanded further to process the entire volume of green waste generated in the market,” he said.
BMC officials said a tender has already been floated to identify a suitable agency to set up the plant and take the responsibility of its maintenance for the next five years.
Meanwhile, the six waste transfer stations will be set up in different parts of the city as part of sustainable garbage handling practices. The garbage brought to these stations will be processed and shifted to the 150-tonne mega material recovery facility (MRF) at Palasuni, scheduled to be operationalised in a fortnight, and the proposed 200-tonne compressed biogas (CBG) plant at Meherpalli, planned to be completed within two years.
Sources said the civic body ic currently identifying the sites for setting up these waste transfer stations. “Each of these stations will cater to at least four to five wards and they will be set up in the existing MCC-MRF compounds from where the waste will be segregated and transferred on the same day,” said a BMC official.
He further informed that only Laxmisagar MCC premises has been identified as one of the transfer stations so far.