Expansion of waste plant will just add pollution: Residents

Ahead of a public hearing scheduled for Tuesday on the capacity enhancement of the Okhla Waste to Energy plant, local residents have said that the expansion is a violation of a January 2021 Union environment ministry order, and added that the plant has been fined in the past for not following pollution norms.

The Delhi Pollution Control Committee will hold the public hearing to gather feedback on the plant’s expansion between 10.30am and 1.30pm at Madanpur Khadar.

Delhi’s lieutenant governer VK Saxena visited the Okhla plant in June, and asked officials to take necessary steps to increase the garbage consumption by another 1,000 metric tonnes which will result in an additional 17 MW of power production. The plant currently burns 1950 metric tonnes of waste to generate up to 23 MW of power.

It was set up by the Sheila Dixit government, and it is operated by the Timarpur Okhla Waste Management Company Limited company. The plant, however, has courted controversy ever since its inception in 2012. In February 2017, the facility was fined ₹25 lakh by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for not adhering to several pollution-related benchmarks, notably for dioxins and furans, a carcinogenic byproduct of chemicals released post-combustion from waste incineration. The NGT order came on a petition by some local residents who had questioned the location of the plant, which they said was too close to residential pockets.

In August 2021, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee fined the plant ₹5 lakh when several parameters, including dioxin and furan emission values were found to be around 10 times the permissible limit.

UK Bharadwaj, president of the Sukhdev Vihar Pocket B RWA, said that even with its present capacity, the plant is finding it hard to meet environmental standards, and added that a larger plant will be even more polluting.

“At present, the plant is a constant source of noise, odour, suffocating smoke and flyash. Most importantly, the solid waste management rules require that a WtE plant should be set up at the landfill, and at least 500 metres away from residential areas. Here, the plant is in the middle of a densely populated residential colony with many hospitals and institutions nearby, but far away from the Okhla landfill site. Instead of relocating the plant, it is being proposed to be expanded which means it is only going to be a bigger health hazard for the local residents,” he said.

A DPCC official said the expansion of the plant was still at a ‘proposal’ stage and will only proceed if positive feedback is gathered. “The public hearing is being held for the same purpose.”

According to the January 15, 2021 MoEFCC order, “Any further expansion beyond 23 MW power generation shall not be permitted at the same site considering the proximity of Sukhdev Vihar residential colony located less than 100 metres from the site.”

Ranjit Devraj, another resident from Sukhdev Vihar, which is located as close as 50 metres to the plant in some parts, states the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) itself admits to the dangerous nature of the plant, particularly owing to its close proximity to residential neighbourhoods.

“We intend to argue that this plant should be shifted to the landfill, instead of increasing its capacity and taking more area for processing of waste around residential neighbourhoods,” he adds.

Experts say that waste to energy plants cannot be termed a solution to the problem of waste management, and suggested that segregation of waste at source should be prioritised. Bharati Chaturvedi, founder and director of Chintan Environmental Research and Action, said, “Instead of creating another WtE plant which will require waste that can be burnt, we need to find solutions for wet waste, which can be a great source of manure. Under the present setup, we are not finding solutions for wet waste which is ending up at landfill sites and creating methane, or reaching WtE plants which are not complying with the norms. We are also allowing these WtE plants to function after being fined and they continue to flout the norms and pay a fine. This needs to change,” she said.