A delegation led by Chandigarh Mayor Anup Gupta, Commissioner Municipal Corporation Anindita Mitra, Councillors, officers and residents of Daddumajra, on Thursday visited the Solid Waste Management Plants situated at North and South Goa to understand the system and process for municipal solid waste management at Goa and learn from the good practices being followed. 

In a statement issued here, Gupta said that Goa was selected for the study tour as both the Plants have been designed by NEERI and both are also monitored to date by the premier Research Institute. The proposed Integrated Solid Waste Management Plant in Chandigarh has been designed as per technology recommendations made by NEERI. The DPR and RFP have also been vetted by NEERI.

The ISWM plant at North Goa has of a capacity of 250 TPD whereas the one situated at South Goa is of 100 TPD. Both plants process their wet waste to produce compressed Biogas which is used for producing electricity.  MCC Commissioner Mitra said that Biogas so produced can either be used to produce Compressed Natural Gas(CNG) or Electricity. She clarified that the design of proposed ISWM plant at Chandigarh also allows further processing of by-products from the Bio CNG if Concessionaire desires.

Officials said that at both the Goa Plants, dry waste after intensive secondary segregation into 14 categories of separate recyclable fractions is processed to produce RDF and other recyclables, which is supplied as fuel to Cement Plants and authorized recyclers.

Allaying the fears of residents of Daddumajra, the Mayor said that both the Plants of Goa are situated on erstwhile dumping grounds. The legacy waste lying there was bio-degradable. Thereafter, the Waste processing plants and Sanitary Landfill sites were set up on the land reclaimed as such.  

Further, both Plants are very close to human habitation. The human settlement of 50000, starts from 100 mtrs from the boundary wall of the North Goa Plant. Similarly, the 30000 strong human settlement starts within 20 mtrs from the boundary wall of the South Goa Plant. The plant at South Goa is also adjacent to a Government polytechnic college and the Civil Court.

The Residents of Daddumajra visited the State of Art Plant in South Goa and found that there was no foul odour even within the premises of the Plant. A natural choe which flows through the area, which used to have leachate flowing through it, now has clean water flowing. Composting is done from the residual sludge and it was found that the compost was odour free and of good quality.

Mitra clarified that as Environmental Clearance is mandatory as per the Government of India, the same shall be taken before setting up the plant. This shall ensure that all norms wrt emissions are met.
The Mayor said that the setting up of this Integrated Solid Waste Management Plant in Chandigarh will give the residents of Daddumajra and the city, much-needed relief from the problems created due to dumping of unprocessed waste.