JOIN USPalike plans bio-mining at landfills to process waste
The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will now take up bio-mining in the landfills, in a bid to pacify residents in the vicinity.
Bio-mining refers to clearing landfills by converting waste into compost, methane gas, bio-diesel and power.
Addressing residents of Mandur village, Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar said on Monday that the Palike had held discussions with companies for the bio-mining project and all proposals had been submitted to the government for clearance.
“The BBMP has received 17 proposals for bio-mining and the government has issued orders for constituting an expert committee for quick evaluation and finalisation of the proposals,” he said.
The chief minister said more than 10 lakh tonnes of garbage had accumulated in the landfills and bio-mining would be one of the most viable options to tackle the problem.
Among the companies which have evinced interest are Hanjir Bio Tech, Waste Organic Private Limited and Coromandel Fertilizers. The firms have agreed to instal facilities within four months to convert waste into compost, a BBMP official said.
New landfills
The BBMP has been asked to decentralise waste processing to ensure regulated movement of garbage trucks and keep the environmental impact within manageable limits.
“The ideal situation will be to have one processing unit per Assembly constituency, capable of handling about 300 metric tonnes per day. This will help process incoming waste for the next 10 years on a daily basis and leave no trace of any untreated waste including leachate, foul smell,” Shettar said.
For this, the Palike has identified seven land parcels of 112 acres belonging to Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation and various private lands within a 100-km radius, to be developed on outright purchase basis and on public private partnership model.
Shettar said he had issued instructions to the Revenue department to allot government lands to BBMP and that this process would be completed in the next 10 days. The Palike has its own lands at Kanahalli, Sigehalli and Anekal, which will be utilised to decentralise waste processing with proper infrastructure.
CA sites
Also, the Bangalore Development Authority will allot at least five civic amenity sites to the Palike in the residential layouts being developed by it, to set up infrastructure to process waste which will be generated once these localities are inhabited.