KMC to process 40L metric tonne legacy waste in 3 yrs

KOLKATA: Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has taken up bio-mining and treatment of legacy waste spread over 45 hectares at the Dhapa dumpyard.

About 40 lakh metric tonne of legacy waste will be processed and transformed into wealth in three years time at an estimated project cost of Rs 260 crore.

"The organic waste will be composted and can be used as soil conditioner for agricultural activities, and the inorganic material found in the waste such as plastics, rubber, cloth, leather, wood and glass items will be used by the cement industry," Firhad Hakim, Chairman of Board of Administrators KMC said, while unveiling the project at Dhapa on Friday.

According a senior official of the Solid Waste Management (SWM) department of KMC, the area has been divided into three mountains of waste. The work shall be carried out in a phase-wise manner. The target is to clear 9 lakh MT, 13 lakh MT and 18 lakh MT in the first, second and third year respectively.

About 4,400 metric tonnes of solid waste is generated daily in the KMC jurisdictional area and the bulk of it is dumped at Dhapa. KMC has started segregation of waste at source in 27 wards in the city.

Hakim also inaugurated a waste plastic recycling plant at Dhapa. "The project of waste plastic recycling will be done in PPP mode. "KMC has provided resources to the company that will execute the work. They will be using plastic from the dumpsite itself for making a variety of products like plastic lumber, door farmes, planks, boards. We will be getting a portion of the revenue share from the company," Debabrata Majumdar, Member Board of Administrators, KMC in-charge of SWM department said.

KMC has already successfully sealed a 12-acre portion of dumpsite at Dhapa. It has transformed the portion into a green site with dumping of waste being stopped completely. Dhapa comes under the Ramsar site and the National Green Tribunal has directed the state government to take steps to make Dhapa garbage-free.

Legacy waste that gets accumulated year after year forms methane gas which when comes in contact with oxygen causes fire. The smoke emanating from this waste contains carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulphur oxide and

nitrogen oxide. It is also rich in PM 2.5 and PM 10, tiny pollutants that enter the deepestcrevices of the lungs and can trigger a host of respiratory diseases. Hakim also inaugurated a construction and demolition waste process plant on virtual mode at Patharghata in New Town.