Athipattu bio-gas plant gets go-ahead from corporation

CHENNAI: The Chennai corporation council on Friday approved a biomethanation plant which will be set up at the Athipattu dumping ground in Ambattur where garbage has been a mounting problem.
The facility will be designed by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). The plant was earlier planned for the Vanagaram area where BARC found the conditions unsuitable.Similar plants will also come up at Velangadu and Otteri in Anna Nagar zone.
Food waste from restaurants and apartments within Ambattur will be collected and fed into the plant in Athipattu which will convert it into organic manure and gas to power electricity generation. “Power production is a by-product, BARC’s main objective is to generate organic manure for fertilisation,” says Daniel Chellappa, senior scientist, technical coordination wing, BARC, Chennai.
The plant can treat three tonnes of waste daily and generate 300 units of electricity and 250 to 300 kg of organic manure.
Ward councillors of Ambattur zone had raised concerns about the plant being set up near a dumping ground. They feared that the project would affect the locals. However, mayor Saidai S Duraisamy assured them that the facility would be beneficial and announced that an awareness programme will be carried out among the public and passed the resolution.
The civic body had earlier promised scientific closure of the Athipattu dumping ground.