Teething trouble for waste-to-energy power plant at Bhagtanwala dump

Tribune News Service

Charanjit Singh Teja

Amritsar, April 27

The proposal for setting up a ‘waste-to-energy’ power plant at the Bhagtanwala dump is hanging fire due to a property dispute and failure of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to issue a non-objection certificate (NOC) to the power regulatory commission. Averda, the solid waste management company hired by MC, has proposed to set up a 10 MW plant to process the 5,000 metric tonnes of garbage daily. At present, work on finalising the power tariff is in the negotiating stage.

The company was supposed to set up the waste-to-energy power plant within two years but delayed the project by more than three years. Company officials said that they need 25 acres for proper functioning of the plant. As per the proposal, after cleaning of six acres, the company was supposed to start construction on the land but now its officials claim that they need a 25-acre chunk before starting the construction. Apart from the power plant, the company needs land for pre-processing of garbage, storage of fuel, scientific land-filling and ash. Dispute over some portion of the Bhagtanwala dump land is pending in the High Court as a local farmer claimed that the MC occupied his land and filled it with garbage.

Averda officials said the PSPCL did not issue NOC to the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) to fix the power tariff rate. After the PSERC fixes the tariff rate, the purchase agreement will be signed between the Municipal Corporation and the PSPCL.

The company will spend Rs 287 crore to set up the plant and it will be completed within two years. “We needed 25 acres of land and clearance from the departments concerned. The MC sent a reminder to the PSPCL to issue an NOC to the PSERC. After getting the NOC, the PSERC will fix the tariff rate and an agreement will be signed to get the power supply. We hope that the process will be completed within a few months,” said a senior company official from Averda.

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