Tamil Nadu, Bengal invest Rs.150 crore on waste management

Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have utilised close to Rs.150 crore of the funds allocated to them in setting up waste management projects, the urban development ministry said on Thursday.

"I want to congratulate Tamil Nadu and West Bengal for taking concrete steps for putting in the processes in place, which would result in waste being properly converted into reusable energy," said Praveen Prakash, joint secretary in the ministry and mission director for the Swachh Bharat Mission.

"Many other states are setting up similar projects in their respective states and I am certain we are moving in the right direction towards solving the solid waste menace in urban areas," he added.

Cities in India generate nearly 170 million tonnes of solid waste a year.

Tamil Nadu launched a waste-to-energy plant at Venkatamangalam near Chennai. With an intake capacity of 300 tonnes per day, the plant can produce up to 20 tonnes of refuse-derived fuel per day, which it plans to sell to cement plants in the state.

West Bengal will set up over 200 compactors across the state, where officials said over 6,000 tonnes of waste per day would be compacted.

The central government has allocated Rs.37,000 crore of the Swachh Bharat project cost of Rs.62,009 crore towards solid waste management alone.