TURA, May 17: The problems of accumulated waste, something that has been haunting the budding towns and cities of the state, could be a thing of the past if the pilot project in Tura takes off.
The project, that is a joint venture between India and Chamhana GW of South Korea, is the first such project in the country and was inaugurated on Tuesday at the village of Rongkon Songgittal in the town of Tura. The plant was inaugurated by the Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma in the presence of the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea, Jae-Bok Chang.
The plant has been set up close to the landfill for the town of Tura for the dumping of waste.
The project was envisioned in March 2019 with the technical advisor of the project, Naba Bhattacharjee , explaining what happened behind the scenes for the project to come to fruition.
“The problem of waste management is a huge one and needed out of the box thinking. The Republic of Korea has been in the forefront of solid waste management with Chamhana GW of Korea being among the leaders.. An approach was made to the In fact, nothing really goes to waste as about 95% of what is considered waste can be reclaimed,” explained Bhattacharjee .
He added that he approached the CM with the idea of which the latter was forthcoming and gave the go-ahead. He, however, had one condition – that the project would not cost the state any money. The CM had asked for the project to be taken up directly with the company Chamhana GW as a pilot project on PPP mode to assess the efficacy of the technology before deciding on setting up plants of bigger capacity in Shillong and elsewhere.
Chamhana agreed to the terms with the condition that they be given absolute rights to market the processed fuel, to recover their capital investment in the next 10-12 years. Tests have shown that the combustion capacity of the processed waste is close to 3,500 Kcal, just below medium quality coals from major mines in the country – an asset that the company expects to use to further the process in other towns and cities.
The pilot project was later finalised between Chamhana and the Tura Municipal Board (TMB) with Tura being chosen as it was ideal in terms of the amount of waste.
“Tura was ideal as it has nearly the same amount of waste as can be processed daily by a small capacity plant. Shillong had too much while Jowai has less. The segregated waste can be processed. Even PET bottles can be processed after shredding. The upside of the project is that plastic waste can be nearly eliminated through the process,” added the technical advisor.
The project, which was expected to start in the year 2020, was delayed due to COVID-19.
The pilot project, envisioned as a working model demonstration project (proof of concept), will manage the garbage collected by the TMB to the tune of 35 metric tonne (MT) per day. The capacity will be increased after viability studies and will also be introduced in other towns and cities in the Meghalaya depending on success of pilot project.
The converted waste will produce about 10-15 MTs of fuel as per early estimates.
“It could be a game-changer for waste management in the state and the rest of the country,” added Naba.
Speaking on the sidelines of the inauguration, Ambassador Chang felt that the project was a win-win situation for both countries.
“I have come to witness this win-win project with the technology of South Korea and the state of Meghalaya. As the CM said that this is just the beginning and we will see more such innovations in garbage management in the coming future that will bring prosperity to both countries. We will endeavour to bring more such mutually beneficial projects in the future,” said Ambassador Chang.
The Ambassador was accompanied by his wife as well as a contingent of representatives of Chamhana GW.
Committee demands shifting of landfill site
While the chief minister was busy inaugurating the pilot project of Chamhana GW-Refuse Derived Fuel Plant at Rongkhon Songgital landfill site in Tura on Tuesday, the Rongkhon Songgital Youth Environment Committee has demanded the shifting of the site elsewhere.
In its memorandum dispatched to the CM on the same day, the committee accused the TMB of not following the directions of the High Court of Meghalaya and continuing to dump waste in a haphazard manner resulting in garbage spilling over to the cemetery below.
“The people of the area have given enough time to the TMB to arrange a new landfill site. We cannot tolerate such desecration of the graves and hope that immediate action will be taken on the matter,” the committee said.
Alleging that the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 and Environmental (Protection) Act and Suppression of the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) were violated by the TMB, the committee also sought action against it.
