The Karnataka government is working out the modalities of starting a waste-to-energy plant in Bidadi, said J B Ravinder, Joint Adviser, Central Public Health and Environment Engineering Organisation, Ministry of Urban Development.
“There are seven such plants in India: three in Delhi and one each in Jabalpur, Pune, Solapur and Nagpur. The cost of setting up the unit would be between Rs 1 crore and Rs 20 crore, depending on the quantity of waste handled and the power generated,” he said at the inauguration of a day-long workshop on Swachh Survekshan-2017, a regional workshop for 27 cities in Karnataka, here on Saturday. Ravinder explained that the government was considering opening such a plant in Bidadi where piped gas from Dabhol would be utilised to convert the waste into electricity. At least 1,000 metric tonnes of waste is needed to generate one megawatt of electricity, he said. The plan is in the final stage of being approved by the state government.
Mahendra Jain, Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development Department, said that land in Bengaluru was too precious to be used as dumping ground. According to him, very little waste should go to landfill sites. He suggested that all the generated waste be sent to industrial units like cement factories and energy plants for power generation.