The Hindu Business Line : Rs 400-cr waste disposal project for Chennai likely

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Chennai Feb. 8 The Chennai Municipal Corporation has submitted an Rs 400-crore project for an integrated solid waste management facility, according to Mr Rajesh Lakhoni, Commissioner, Chennai Corporation.

Addressing a seminar on environmental solutions from the UK, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, he said the objective of the project would be to set up facilities for the six million tonnes of garbage collected from the streets, annually - about 1,400 tonnes a day. As a part of the project, four compost plants each with a capacity to handle about 3,240 tonnes a day will be set up. The rest would be about 420 tonnes of a waste a day, which would go to the landfills.

The total waste generated in Chennai is about 12.5 million tonnes a year. That puts Chennai in the top slot among the cities in India in generating waste. "But that is only an indication of the efficiency of waste collection," Mr Lakhoni said.

e-waste

The profile of garbage is changing - meaning that the disposal systems too need to be handled accordingly. Earlier, organic waste was the major component. But now with the technology and IT growth the quantity of electronic and electrical items, e-waste, is on the increase. Still over half the waste can be composted, and a quarter of the waste generated can be recycled. But to do that effectively the waste would have to be segregated at home, he said.

Apart from this project, the Chennai Corporation will soon call for international bids from private companies to handle municipal solid waste. The contract with Onyx, which is now the private company handling waste disposal was coming to an end, he said.

Carbon credits

Mr Lakhoni said that the Corporation was also working on a proposal to submit projects under the Clean Development Mechanism for securing carbon credits, as methane from landfills could be tapped and used for, say, power generation. The World Bank has committed to marketing the carbon credits for the Chennai Corporation and is willing to provide a minimum guarantee.

"Garbage will no longer be a problem, that is the Municipal Corporation's promise to Chennai," Mr Lakhoni said.

Mr Colin Drummond, Mission Leader, Environmental Industries Sector Unit, UK Trade and Investment, said that British companies were eager to tap markets like India. In the UK, municipal waste disposal is a large sector with 3,000 companies and a business of about eight billion pounds-sterling, employing 70,000.

Many, private sector and governments, see great value in the environment sector. Over half the funding for projects under the Clean Development Mechanism comes through London. The industry is backed by a strong financial sector, he said.

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