MARGAO
Hazard a guess how much electricity has been generated and sold to the grid by Margao Municipal Council’s lone bio-methanation plant set up at the SGPDA retail market?
It’s been exactly a month on Friday since the 5TPD plant was commissioned with much fanfare by the civic body on November 3. Leave alone generation of power and enriching the Municipal coffers, the plant has not been running to its optimum capacity, not even carrying out the primary function of treating the wet waste generated in the SGPDA retail market.
And, the reasons are not far to seek. The 5TPD plant has no dedicated three-phase connection till date and the plant cannot run on the gas generated by the plant for an entire day. In fact, even MMC officials in private admitted that the gas generated by the plant is insufficient to run the bio-methanation plant even for an hour. This has even hit the treatment of the wet waste. For, while the plant is equipped to treat 5TPD of wet waste, what the plant in reality has treated till date is just around 1.5 tonnes of waste a day for want of power.
Margao Municipal officials say the civic body initially thought that the gas and power generated by the plant will help run the plant every day. In reality, the civic body has now found out that the plant is in need of a three-phase power connection to run the plant to its optimum capacity.
The Municipal official admitted that the treatment of wet waste generated at the SGPDA retail market was also affected in a big way. “Since the plant was running only for an hour with the gas generated by the plant, we had been supplying only around 1.5 tonnes of waste to the plant to ensure there’s no nuisance at the plant for want of treatment,” the official added.
To tide over the problem, the MMC has now awarded work of laying a cable in order to take three-phase power connection for the plant. “The power issue plaguing the plant should be over in the next few days after the cable is laid by the contractor,” the official added.
The 5TPD bio-methanation plant has been set up by Pune-based Ms Biotech Solutions Pvt Ltd at a cost of around Rs 2.30 crore. The company had stated that the plant has a capacity to generate 450 units of power per day, besides bio-fertiliser. In fact, hopes were raised that the plant will generate revenue to the tune of Rs 3 lakh on an average per month, but in vain.
Meanwhile, the Shadow Council of Margao has questioned the operation of the bio-methanation plant, with convenor Savio Coutinho saying the plant is yet to be fully operational upto its specified capacity.
“We are indeed horrified to learn that the commissioned plant is yet to be given the power supply of 20KV as required for its operations. The plant is still running on the temporary connection given at the time of the commencement of construction, while the plant requires 20KVA supply to operate the plant fully,” he said.
Saying that the plant was supposed to take care of the organic waste generated at the SGPDA market in a scientific manner, Coutinho said, “We find huge quantity of this waste making its way to the Sonsodo plant, adding to the woes there. The plant is supplied with only around 1.5 tonnes of vegetable waste, while the balance vegetable waste and the entire fish waste is taken and dumped at the “non-functional plant” at Sonsodo.
Coutinho has cautioned the authorities that such lapses on the part of the Council of not providing the mandatory and essential support, shall give sufficient enough ammunition for an arbitration matter in the event the plant fails for whatsoever reasons.
