The plant is estimated to cost Rs 200 crore and is meant to convert about 2,000 tonnes of waste in Delhi to 16 MW power a day. It is among the world's largest incinerators that deals with everyday waste. Then, at a meeting with residents of the area on April 3, Ramesh initiated a technical review committee consisting of IIT experts, persons from Europe with experience of waste incineration projects, and nominees of the community living around the project. Ramesh said the review would take as much time as necessary to vet all aspects of the proposed technology, and the plant would not be given operational clearance until all shortfalls are addressed to the satisfaction of the CPCB as well as the resident's nominees.
Three weeks later, on April 26, a meeting was called of various experts at the CPCB head office. After a hearty meal, the programme started with Jindal Ecopolis (JE), the promoter who was given time to explain their proposal. JE made a glossy presentation with no technology details. This was from a firm who repeatedly said they had all clearances to implement the Okhla plant, which is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) project of the Delhi government. They said they were only the implementers, in other words they were there merely to provide an overview of the proposal and not to seek technology clearance. Thus, JE is confident of the Delhi governments' support in pushing this project through and does not recognise the authority vested by law in the CPCB.
This raises an interesting question. What is the role of the environment ministry? Is it to okay proposals by big industrialists with friendly politicians? Or is it to carry out its duties as mandated by Indian law? Ramesh has stated that he is under pressure to clear projects that have gone some distance. Does this mean he has to overlook potential violation of environmental laws?
There is also another question. The Delhi government has been moving polluting industries out of Delhi, some of them micro, and displacing employees. Yet, it is determined to get a highly polluting waste plant in the midst of a thickly populated area. They have also said the land allocated to this plant is designated as a municipal solid waste landfill site in the Master Plan 2021. This is not correct. In a recent proposal submitted by the Timarpur Okhla Waste Management Company Limited to the environment ministry to increase capacity from 16 MW to 20.9 MW, the land has been described as ‘industrial'. Therefore, these may be attempts to mislead the ministry and the general public that the land is appropriate for such activities. If this project is authorised for Delhi, it could become a great carbon credit model for most towns in India. Read the full report here.
Source: Anant Trivedi, Tehelka.
