Officials return, to prepare report on Pune-based plant
MARGAO
The Margao Municipal team along with officials of the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB), Goa Energy Development Agency (GEDA), Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) and the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) have returned home from a visit to Pune after inspecting the plasma gasification plant set up by Ms GD Environmental Pvt Ltd (GDEPL).
What’s next, however, is a question that may come to haunt officials of agencies, including the Margao Municipal Chief Officer, Gaurish Shankwalkar whether the plant and technology in question will help resolve the garbage woes of Sonsodo in particular and Goa in general.
The Margao Municipal Chief Officer, when contacted by the media, said agencies such as the GSPCB and GERA will study whether the plasma gasification plant will help in treating waste generated in the commercial capital.
“Our team inspected two plants set up by the startup company at Pune. But, the question is whether similar plant at Sonsodo will cater to the requirements of the commercial capital given the category of waste generated in the city,” he said.
He added: “The plant at Pune is a different one. They have a patent, but whether they can modify the patent to tune it to the requirements of the customers outside Pune, we will have to wait and see.”
Saying that representatives of the Pune-based company will visit Goa and Sonsodo in the near future to study the waste pattern and to come out with a solution for Sonsodo specific, the Margao Chief Officer said, the company is presently running a 5TPD plant to dispose of the waste. “The plant at Pune can treat mixed waste. The company has further claimed that the plant is tuned to disposing of waste even with 50-60 per cent moisture and generates electricity. They have shown us the pellets churned out during the process which is being used for boilers,” he said.
Sankhwalkar, however, hastened to add that the officials of the GSPCB, GEDA and GWMC will prepare a report on the visit to Pune by taking inputs from the Margao Municipal Council as well. “We will all sit again to discuss the matter in detail, to work out the modalities and for how many years, the company is ready to operate the plant and on what terms and conditions,” he added.
