Warned 5 years ago, KMC wakes up to reality now

  • | Wednesday | 14th November, 2018

The activists had said that the firm which was selected for the project had failed in executing a similar project initiated by the Pune Municipal Corporation. We are hopeful about some way forward in the meeting called on Monday with all the stakeholders.” Even though some issues arise or emergency situation occurs, we have alternatives ready to process the waste. Also, the power generated will be less than what was promised while floating the project. The concerns were related to overall feasibility of the project, especially regarding generation of power.Activist Burhan Naikawadi said, “We had told the authorities that such waste-to-energy projects have failed elsewhere.

Kolhapur: The concerns raised by experts and activists over the waste-to-energy project had gone unheeded five years ago, but now the same concerns are haunting the KMC as the plant is likely to be abandoned by the firm appointed to execute it.The project was floated on build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis in 2013. The activists had said that the firm which was selected for the project had failed in executing a similar project initiated by the Pune Municipal Corporation. The concerns were related to overall feasibility of the project, especially regarding generation of power.Activist Burhan Naikawadi said, “We had told the authorities that such waste-to-energy projects have failed elsewhere. Without landfill sites and segregation of waste, such projects are bound to fail. Moreover, the firm that was finalised for setting up and operating the plant had poor record as far as power generation and disposal of the environmentally hazardous byproduct, refuse-derived fuel, is concerned.”The KMC is likely to issue preliminary termination notice to the firm and may even consider legal alternatives to take over the plant.Civic officials said the firm was unable to find a buyer for the refuse-derived fuel. Also, the power generated will be less than what was promised while floating the project. The activists said power generation will be so low that even the plant operations cannot be carried out properly.The activists had also suggested setting up of around 10 small decentralised waste processing plants, but it was ignored. Now, after five years, the KMC is planning to set up such small biogas-based power plants and one has already been set up.Vijay Patil, chief sanitation inspector of the KMC said, “We are hopeful about commissioning of the plant soon. Even though some issues arise or emergency situation occurs, we have alternatives ready to process the waste. The landfill site is also ready. We are hopeful about some way forward in the meeting called on Monday with all the stakeholders.”

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