The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Bio-mining begins at Autonagar

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Thursday, May 08, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Bio-mining begins at Autonagar

T.Lalith Singh

Concept being used to clear garbage accumulated from years of solid waste dumping

Manure would be produced out of the waste at the site
The waste contains organic matter, plant nutrients

Photo: NAGARA GOPAL

Welcome initiative: Garbage being dumped in a bio-mining plant at Mansoorabad on the city outskirts. -

HYDERABAD: For the first time in the city, the unique concept of bio-mining is being used to clear garbage heaps that have accumulated from years of solid waste dumping at Autonagar on city outskirts.

More than 20 lakh tonnes of solid waste got collected at the dump yard, which became a matter of concern for the people living in nearby localities.

With the locals stiffly opposing the garbage dumping and political parties launching agitations, dumping was shifted to Jawaharnagar almost three years ago.

Focus on clearance

The huge mounds of garbage dumped without segretaging the biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste posed severe environmental pollution.

After further dumping was stopped and the site abandoned, the focus remained on how the accumulated waste could be cleared.

The GHMC has zeroed in on a private company, Bhavani Bio Organics, which offered to undertake bio-mining of the garbage mounds to make manure out of the waste at the 40-acre site. The company has been given a five-year contract, in which time, most of the solid waste is expected to be mined for manure.

The biodegradable waste contains organic matter and other plant nutrients in varying proportions and can be composted.

The company has set up an initial plant with 100 tonnes per day capacity and has tied up with a fertilizer company for selling the compost.

Segregation

While the biodegradable waste gets mined and sieved to prepare the manure, the non-biodegradable waste will be kept aside for appropriate management at a later date.

“In five years, we expect the process will free at least 30 acres from the gathered garbage and bring down the possible pollution effects,” says GHMC Additional Commissioner, Ram Mohan Rao.

Concerns of groundwater contamination in the area have been raised since the dump yard was not equipped with liners to prevent percolation of pollutants during the rain.

Apart from causing apprehensions among residents of a horde of colonies that sprang in the vicinities, the solid waste mounds have also been a matter of worry for the forest department which has Mahavir Harina Vanasthali, a sprawling National Park housing deer in natural habitat, next to the dump yard.

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