Now Reading: MPCB clears 15,000-tonne-a-day Deonar legacy waste biomining project
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MPCB clears 15,000-tonne-a-day Deonar legacy waste biomining project
Mumbai: The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board has issued a consent to operate for biomining at Deonar dumping ground, allowing 15,000 tonnes of legacy waste to be processed per day. The project aims…
Mumbai: The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board has issued a consent to operate for biomining at Deonar dumping ground, allowing 15,000 tonnes of legacy waste to be processed per day. The project aims to treat 18.5 million tonnes of accumulated waste and reclaim about 110 hectares of land from a site that has received the city's garbage since 1927. Mumbai currently produces around 7,000 tonnes of solid waste daily.
The biomining process will separate waste into Refuse Derived Fuel, compost, recyclables and inert material. Recovered plastic, glass, metals and cloth will go for authorised recycling, while non-recyclable plastic can be used in road-making or cement plants. Earthy fines and soil-like fractions will go to landscaping and gardening. MPCB has mandated dust, odour, fire, methane and leachate controls, with covered vehicles and monsoon precautions.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation awarded the contract to Navayuga Engineering Ltd at 3% above the estimated cost after a tender process. Three firms bid, with Navayuga emerging as the lowest bidder on July 18. The civic body had extended the bid deadline three times before opening bids on July 8.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The Deonar site has received Mumbai's rubbish since 1927, and legacy waste sits over 30 metres deep in places. Bioremediation of old dumps is not new, the same process worked at Gorai and is under way at Kanjurmarg, but this is India's single-largest such project by tonnage. Land reclamation matters: the 110 hectares freed could host a waste-to-energy plant or a green buffer, though BMC has not announced a final use. The health cost has been visible for decades: methane fires and leachate into the creek affect nearby slum communities. The contract was awarded at 3% above estimate, a tight margin that may challenge execution. Watch for the first six-month progress report: if Navayuga Engineering misses the 15,000-tonne-per-day target, the project timeline will slip.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
