Okhla locals share waste worries with central body

NEW DELHI: Facing the prospect of the Okhla

waste-to-energy plant

increasing its

capacity

from

16MW to 40MW

,

residents

of Delhi’s

Sukhdev Vihar

are up in arms over the move, voicing their

concerns

in front of a

special committee

of the

Union ministry of environment and forest

(MoEF) on Saturday.


The committee was carrying out a site inspection, while a public hearing over the move will be held on January 16. The residents pointed to a chimney already coming up for the expansion, though a public hearing was yet to take place.

“To generate 16MW of energy, almost 400 trucks are used, so to produce 40MW of energy, you can well imagine the number of trucks passing through the area and the level of smell in the area. People are already leaving the locality and if the capacity is increased, this will only get worse,” said Dr Umesh Bahri, a resident of Sukhdev Vihar who says six out of eight houses behind his house have recently been vacated, with people leaving the area.

A site inspection was carried out on Saturday after locals earlier wrote to the Supreme Court-appointed EPCA and the MoEF. The committee, which comprises members from CPCB, EAC and MoEF, will be submitting a report within 15 days.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) last year in a 142-page judgement had observed that the

Okhla

waste-to-energy plant should not be directed to be shut down or be shifted as there was “definite evidence” that the project proponent had become compliant and non-polluting. The NGT had issued a fine of Rs 25 lakh for the pollution caused by the plant and had stated that a fine of Rs 5 lakh would be levied per incident if it is found to be deficient in its operations or violating the prescribed norms.

According to the local RWA of Sukhdev Vihar, 2,000 tonnes of MSW is burning each day which will increase to 4000 tonnes after expansion.