KMC reopens old SWM plant to improve city’s solid waste management

KARNAL: The Karnal Municipal Corporation (KMC) has started using an abandoned solid waste management plant located near Shekhpura Suhana village on the Karnal-Meerut road in Karnal district. The plant was shut down for seven years and was used as a dumpsite earlier.

Karnal produces around 200 tons of garbage per day. Post the launch of Swachh Bharat Mission by the central government, the corporation finally focused on the neglected plant. The plant was then restored to make it functional and usable again. Now, the corporation has started utilising the solid waste plant to generate compost manure, which is helping in improving the carbon content in soil. Besides, the plant is also converting polythene bags into plastic pellets, which are used in making furniture, panels and other plastic made items. 

The corporation is now ensuring segregation of waste at source, resulting in its effective management. With proper segregation of waste at source, the plant has generated a huge quantity of compost, the demand of which is increasing day by day. The compost manure is provided free of cost to the local farmers, while it is sold at the rate of Rs 1,500 per ton to traders and farmers coming from other cities.

The plant is also used to convert waste into refuse-derived fuel (RDF), which is of high demand in various industries of Panipat. 

Rajiv Girdhar, project in-charge, said that earlier only 10 per cent of solid waste was composted, but now 100 per cent waste is being composted.

The corporation signed a contract with the Hydroair Tectonics Pollution Control Development Limited (HTPL) for construction and operation of the plant. The plant was constructed at a cost of Rs 32 crore, and the state government footed half of it. HTPL failed to deliver the expected results, therefore, the corporation terminated the contract of the HTPL and hired Aakanksha Enterprises in 2017.