Work begins on in-house waste tackling plant at Deonar dump

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has finally begun work on its in-house solution to deal with the 12 million metric tonnes of garbage at the Deonar dumping ground. The civic body recently floated tenders to construct a waste-to-energy plant inside Deonar dumping ground. The total cost of the project is estimated to be around '1,000 crore.

Deputy municipal commissioner of the solid waste management department Vijay Balamwar said, “Even though we planned to construct a bio-methanisation plant, we have now opted for an open technology. It will be capable of processing a total of 3,000 metric tonnes of waste a day.” Work on the project will start in about three months, and it is expected to be complete in 18 months. The tenders were floated on October 28.

The BMC has planned to construct this waste-to-energy plant on the lines of the two waste processing units at the Kanjurmarg dumping ground, which process a total of 3,000 metric tonnes of waste a day. Mr Balamwar said, “The plants at Kanjurmarg were the first of its kind in the country, and they have not been replicated in any other Indian city since. The Deonar dumping ground will now follow suit.”

The BMC has already identified land inside the dumping ground to construct this waste-processing unit. It will now have to clear the area of garbage dumped there for over decades, and then level the land. Before clearing away the garbage, the BMC will begin to stabilise the slope of the garbage mounds in the area. All of this is part of the '1,000-crore budget allotted for the project.

The construction of in-house waste processing plants at Deonar was part of the initial measures announced by the BMC to manage the millions of metric tonnes of garbage dumped at Deonar over the years.