Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Land acquisition dogs capping of waste dump

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A project taken up by the city corporation to streamline the operation of the garbage treatment plant at Vilappilsala has been bogged down by the delay in land acquisition proceedings.

The work, which involves capping of the accumulated garbage at the site, has been held up for over two months due to the delay in acquiring two acres from the landholdings in the neighbourhood. The initial compensation fixed by the District Collector was referred back for revision after the landowners complained that it was far below the market rate. Since then, the file has been shuttling between the Collectorate and the office of the Land Revenue Commissioner.

The capping project is being executed by the Centre of Science and Technology for Rural Development (Costford) under an agreement with the corporation.

The proposed closure of the dumpsite involves covering the accumulated waste with multiple layers of clay, high density polyethylene and hard soil. The capped dump will be landscaped to regenerate the environment. Costford has proposed the construction of a drain around the site to divert rainwater to the nearby stream. A diaphragm wall is to be built at the bottom of the slope to prevent water from seeping into the ground. A network of pipes and a flaring unit will be installed to collect greenhouse gases from the waste.

The leachate from the dump will be collected in tanks, recycled in an oxidation plant and diverted back to the processing plant, in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (PCB).

The treatment plant, which is based on composting technology to convert garbage into organic manure, is not equipped to handle non-biodegradable wastes. Only 12 per cent of the solid waste reaching the plant is turned into compost, with the rest dumped on the premises.

Local people have been up in arms over the environmental pollution caused by the dumpsite. The leachate from the dumpsite is responsible for the pollution of the Chowalloor stream which joins the Karamana river downstream.

A technical committee comprising experts and representatives of the corporation, Vilappil panchayat and the PCB is monitoring the capping project. The delay in acquiring land is posing a serious setback to the corporation at a time when it is preparing to take over the operation of the seven-year-old plant from the Poabsons Group. The local body is learnt to have identified a city-based NGO to operate the plant for two years.

Efforts are on to settle the financial liabilities incurred by the plant operators and use funds from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) to modernise the plant and improve its operational efficiency. The corporation is seeking a grant of Rs.5 crore from the government for settlement of the liabilities.

The projects to be taken up with JNNURM assistance include a leachate treatment plant and an engineered sanitary landfill to dispose of the composting rejects from the plant. The corporation hopes to complete the projects in two years time.

Civic officials admitted that handling the accumulated waste would be the biggest challenge for the new operators of the treatment plant. According to them, the priority would be to enhance the recovery of organic manure from garbage. They maintained that it would be possible to increase the recovery from 12 to 20 per cent.

The daily supply of garbage to the plant is at present in the order of 220 tonnes. Meanwhile, the segregated collection of garbage has been extended to 51 wards. The corporation’s fleet of garbage trucks is being equipped with double bays for separated transport of organic wastes and non-degradable material.

The plastic wastes brought to the plant are being diverted to a recycling company based in Tamil Nadu.

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