NGT seeks report on incineration, thermal plants

The National Green Tribunal has directed Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to submit within a week the inspection report on the waste-to-energy and thermal power plants in the capital, in a bid to address the growing waste management problem.
Waste-to-energy is the process of generating energy in the form of electricity from the primary treatment of waste.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar expressed concern over delay in operationalisation of these plants and directed the 'high-powered team' constituted by it to submit the report expeditiously.
"The counsel appearing for CPCB submits that the joint inspection report in relation to all the three plants at Okhla, Bawana and Ghazipur and the thermal power plants in Rajghat and Badarpur has been prepared. However its finalisation is awaited. Let the same be filed within one week," the bench said.

On December 17 last year, NGT had constituted a team consisting of the Environment and Power Secretary, NCT Delhi, the Member-Secretary of CPCB, Delhi Pollution Control Committee, senior scientist from MoEF, senior officer from Irrigation Department of UP (for Ghazipur plant) and chief engineers of municipal corporations.
"They shall also inspect thermal power plants at Rajghat and Badarpur and submit a complete and comprehensive report about their operation and maintenance," the bench had said.

The green panel had directed the team to take samples of ambient air quality as well as stack air quality from all these plants except Bawana and ordered the samples to be analysed by DPCC, CPCB and Shriram Laboratory independently.

The Tribunal's direction came on an application filed by Sukhdev Vihar Residents' Welfare Association praying for closure of the Okhla waste-to-energy plant alleging that it uses illegal mass burning technology, causing air pollution.
While the waste-to-energy plant at Ghazipur is expected produce 12MW power by processing 2,000 tonnes waste per day, another plant is proposed to be commissioned at Narela-Bawana here to generate 24MW power from waste.