BARC to help Rajkot process solid waste

RAJKOT: Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), India's premier nuclear research institute, has joined hands with the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) to generate energy from organic waste. The civil work of the 'bio-methanation plant' on the 80 feet road is nearing completion and the facility is likely to be operational by this December.
"The plant with a capacity of five tonnes per day will generate around 300-400 units of electricity per day by processing the kitchen waste and cow dung.This is a pilot project and once successful, we will set up more in a decentralized manner across the city," Banchha Nidhi Pani, Municipal Commissioner, Rajkot told TOI.
RMC officials said that about 550 tonne municipal solid waste is generated in Rajkot daily. As of now, the solid waste door-to-door collected is transported to Nakrawadi landfill site. Waste disposal is one of the major issue being faced by people and civic body.
"The main advantage of this plant is that would enable environment friendly disposal of waste. The energy generated through the plant will be used by RMC,'' Pani added.
According to sources, BARC provides know-how to various institutions and NGOs to set up such plants and presently about 40 such facilities based on this technology are under construction in India. Disposal of municipal solid waste is a major issue in Gujarat with mountains of garbage piling up in the cities and towns.