Towards improved waste treatment

On April 13, the small town of Myladi in Kottakal district, Kerala, witnessed widespread protests against a proposed waste treatment plant, with seven people suffering serious injuries following a police lathi-charge. The locals were protesting against what they termed as an extremely unscientific approach to waste treatment, in which the accumulated waste matter was leading to contagious diseases in the community.

Similarly, in December 2012, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board permitted the operations of a sewage treatment plant near Nanjundapuram in Coimbatore, but it was met with stiff protests from residents who wanted the plant relocated. However, a similar plant at nearby Ukkadam, of 70 million litre per day capacity has been operating unhindered over an year, but there was no opposition since the plant was not located in an urban area. The presence of huge chlorine tanks, a noisy 2,000 horse power blower, threat of release of harmful gases such as methane are the main areas of concern for the residents. 

More recently, the Delhi High Court provided relief to the protesting  residents of Sukhdev Vihar in south Delhi by ordering the shifting of a bio-medical waste treatment plant situated 30 metres from the colony. The residents complained that the proximity of the plant posed a health hazard. The plant at Sukhdev Vihar was operationalised in 2005 and is meant to treat and dispose bio-medical waste collected from different hospitals,  dispensaries and nursing homes.

The above are examples of how the community in India is responding negatively to an otherwise environment-friendly initiative. Waste recycling, treatment and processing plants are proactive initiatives undertaken particularly in urban areas, but more often than not the finer aspects of setting up such waste treatment plants are given a miss. This causes widespread discontent in the community and severely undermines the constructive cause behind the initiative, which is to save the environment. Concerns about waste treatment facilities can range widely, and relate to a large variety of issues. 

The Government, concerned civic bodies as well as community representatives should take into account the environmental, economic and health impact of commissioning such plants. Due diligence needs to be maintained during the operation of such treatment plants as well.

Apart from posing health hazards such as the release of harmful gases and bacteria as well as the spread of infection, the treatment plants present the issue of odour — the control of which is one of the most important factors of plant design. The implementing agencies should delve into dimensions of odour such as frequency, intensity, duration and offensiveness. There are a number of different approaches to managing odour. The most successful management tool, however, is the use own sense of smell in order to assure a liveable community. India can adopt a stringent criterion that is currently being used in many European countries, according to which, the procedure of odour control is implemented and monitored beginning at the property line of each treatment plant. 

In India, many waste-water treatment plants that are situated in urban areas can utilise the Western standard wherein foul air is passed through scrubbing equipment before being discharged, virtually eliminating odours. Yet another issue pertaining to waste treatment plants is the noise factor. At a treatment plant noise is typically associated with rotating equipment such as aeration blowers and with truck traffic entering and leaving the site. For a liveable community we can adopt and enforce the global standard practice of not generating more than 45 decibels and 55 decibels at the fence line for evening and daytime periods. 

Treatment plants should ideally be located away from urban and habituated areas, but owing to the scale and variety of waste generation the challenge is to not only process the same in an efficient manner through compact plants but also to deploy available technology to allow smallest plant footprint as is possible in order to reduce impact on local communities. 

India can gain cutting-edge inputs for its own treatment plant projects by observing global examples such as the Kent County Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant in Delaware, United States. long recognised internationally as a model of excellence, the plant attracts representatives from countries such as Brazil, South Africa, Germany and Russia who observe its innovative practices. The plant incorporates the world’s largest microwave UV system into its operation. The microwave UV system scores over the traditional chlorine for its superlative operational efficiencyand environmental sustainability. 

As an upcoming economy India needs to set world standards in environment initiatives especially in community-sensitive projects such as waste treatment plants. This is possible only if the internal stakeholders, read citizens, are benefitted in every way.