Green court seeks details of Delhi’s waste-to-energy plants

NEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal has asked for a detailed report on the three waste-toenergy plants in the city, to assess in detail their pros and cons.

Advocate Balendu Shekhar, appearing for East Delhi Municipal Corporation, told HT: “The green court asked the three civic bodies for a comprehensive status report within a week and threatened action upon failure to comply.”

The Tribunal’s direction came while hearing an application filed by the Sukhdev Vihar Residents’ Welfare Association. The residents want the Okhla waste-to-energy plant to be shut, alleging that it uses the illegal mass burning technology that causes air pollution.

Shekhar said the corporations BALENDU SHEKHAR, lawyer who represented East Delhi civic body

would have to give details to the tribunal on the functioning, amount of electricity produced and potential and future vision for the waste-to-energy plants.

The Okhla plant falls under the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, the Ghazipur plant is under East corporation’s jurisdiction while the one in Narela Bawana is run by the North civic body.

The plant at the Ghazipur landfill captures methane, which converts gas into energy. The plant uses around 2,000 ton of garbage and converts and produces 12 megawatt of energy. It is on a trial run since it began functioning last December, and is awaiting consent to operate in full capacity.

The Okhla landfill, too, has a waste-to-energy plant which helps tackle the garbage inflow. It has a capacity to produce 12 megawatts from 1,200 ton of garbage. This is functional since 2012.

The plant at the NarelaBawana landfill site, which has just started functioning, aims to tackle 1,300 tonnes of garbage on a daily basis and produce almost 24 mega watts of energy.

Residents near these plants have complained about the “negative impact” on their health and even filed cases against the operation of these plants.