Polycrack: A likely solution for garbage disposal

LUCKNOW: Waste disposal will be a big challenge during the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad early next year. The fair, considered to be the biggest congregation of its kind on earth, will go on for three months.

During this time, tonnes of garbage will be generated every day. Apart from that, municipal corporations across the state, including the LMC, have also been grappling with the problem of waste disposal.

Now, an indigenously developed machine -- Polycrack -could be the answer. The machine is on display at the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan, venue of the ‘Transforming Urban Landscape’ event.

Its maker, T Raghavendra Rao, a Mumbai-based petroleum engineer with 25 years of experience in the oil refining industry, said it was the world’s first patented catalytic process that converted organic and non-organic waste into hydrocarbon liquid fuels, gas, carbon and water.

Rao was in Lucknow at the invitation of mayor Sanyukta Bhatia. “The USP is that it does not need segregation of garbage into organic and non-organic waste. All garbage is converted into constituents that have market value,” he said.

The small machine can decompose 50kg of waste in eight hours,while the bigger version can decompose 50 tonnes in eight hours, said Rao, adding, “There is nothing left for landfill sites.”

“We are in talks with the Allahabad administration for deploying our machine at the Kumbh. The municipal corporations of Lucknow, Varanasi and Ghaziabad have also shown interest,” said Rao.

Lucknow Mayor Sanyukta Bhatia has also apprised CM Yogi Adityanath about the Polycrack.

“Disposal of garbage has turned out to be a major problem. We are trying to find a solution. I have invited them (people who made Polycrack) and will carry out trial runs,” said Bhatia, adding that if the trial was successful, the machine could be deployed in Lucknow.

“It can be deployed in a small area. So, garbage need not be transported,” she said.