Vested interests scuttling Gorur plant plan, says firm

The executives of Satarem India, the Swiss firm which is setting up an integrated municipal solid waste management facility at Goruru in Magadi taluk of Ramanagara district, have blamed vested interests for “sabotaging their waste-to-energy project through protests.”

Addressing reporters here on Monday, the Executive Director of the firm, Venkatesh Sivarama, said that their plant at Goruru will be a state-of-the-art facility and will not pollute the atmosphere. 

He said that the BBMP had entered into a joint venture with Satarem India four-and-half years ago in view of the garbage crisis in the City. Satarem India is now setting up the unit with an investment of Rs 240 crore, according to the terms of the agreement.

Sivarama alleged that four persons with vested interests were hindering the project. “A religious head and some politicians are among those throwing a spanner in the works,” Sivarama said.

Giving details of the proposed plant, Sivarama said that  technology ensures near zero emission of dioxin and no harmful gases from the plant. Garbage would come to the facility in a fully covered compactor and go to the processing unit straightaway. It would be used for producing electricity with least pollution.

He also refuted the charges that the land obtained by the firm belonged to Scheduled Castes/Tribes.