500 biogas plants to be set up in public sector institutions in capital
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As pressure mounts to ensure proper waste management, the city corporation is gearing up to strengthen its ailing decentralised waste management system - which was introduced following the shutting down of the Vilappilsala waste treatment plant over a decade ago. In a major move, the civic body is gearing up to install 500 biogas plants in public sector institutions in the capital to ensure source level waste management this year.
There are more than 700 public sector institutions in the corporation’s jurisdiction. The civic body has initiated meetings with the help of the respective MLAs of the constituencies to roll out the project.
“We have identified the institutions, and Thiruvananthapuram constituency has the maximum number of government institutions, which come to around 250. We have formed a team to check the feasibility of these institutions setting up the facility,” said a senior official of the civic body. The project is estimated to cost around Rs13 crore. Many of the existing biogas plants set up as part of the decentralised waste management initiatives are defunct owing to lack of maintenance and proper management. There are around 27 biogas plants, and a large majority of them are not functional.
“We are trying to revive these facilities, and huge amount is being quoted for reviving them,” said an official of the health wing under the city corporation.
“We don’t want to repeat the same mistakes again. We are planning to assign a nodal officer in every institution where the biogas plant will be set up to ensure the proper upkeep of the facility. Regular monitoring is required, and the protocol needs to be followed while using the plant. The waste should be of the right quantity; otherwise, the system will not work properly, leading to technical snags,” the official added.
The capacity of the plants will be decided after the field inspections and depending on the quantity of waste generated. “There are educational institutions, and we will not recommend biogas plants there because of the holidays and vacations. Biogas plants need to be operated on a regular basis, and in such locations, aerobic bins will be appropriate,” a health official said.
The civic body is also planning to appoint more engineers having expertise in the waste management field for the proper upkeep of the facilities.
“As part of the Malinya Muktha Navakeralam campaign, we are taking up more waste related projects, and we need dedicated service from engineers; hence, we are planning to appoint a few hands to monitor such projects,” the official added.
EXISTING PLANTS DEFUNCT
There are around 27 biogas plants, set up as part of the decentralised waste management initiatives. However, large majority of them are defunct owing to lack of maintenance and proper management