*Note* Jairam Ramesh, Union Environment Minister is meeting the protestors against the incinerator plants today at 5 PM at Paryavaran Bhawan. The Minister must initiate steps to stop Incineration based Waste to Energy projects in Delhi are meant for 62.2 MW of power at Okhla, Timarpur, Ghazipur and Narela-Bawana.
Notably, complete Environment Impact Assessments (EIAs) of these life thretening pojects are not available in public domain. The plants at Okhla and Timarpur will generate 16 MW energy and Gazipur will generate 10 MW. The Narela-Bawana plant will generate 36 MW. Incinerators are furnaces that are in effect Dioxins emitting machines. The technology in question Incineration of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) is a tried, tested and failed technology. Its adoption despite a history of consistent failures reveals environmental lawlessness in Delhi. The question is: Why Delhi Government refuses to learn lessons from its blunder using the same technology? It’s surprising why Timarpur waste to energy (WTE) failure in Delhi has not taught any lessons to Union Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). The plant in Timarpur ran for only seven days and now lied defunct after a huge loss of money, a court case and incurring maintenance cost of a failed plant for a long while and now the plant has been razed to ground. It remained a huge embrassment for the proponents. It has now been made invisble because public memory is deemed quite short. In the RDF based Timarpur waste to energy case (Dr B.L Wadhera Vs Union of India and others), Delhi High Court had asked Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to probe the deal and had rebuked the concerned officials. It is well-known fact that there is not even one viable demonstration project anywhere based on this technology in the country. Timarpur's plant was and is a monument of foolhardiness and unwise technological decisions of MNRE, Delhi Govt and MCD. WTE encourages waste generation and maximisation. The role of Union Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) should be probed. MNRE is distorting waste managment beyond repair through its waste to energy policy. The Minister must take note his ministry's White Paper<http://envfor.nic.in/divisions/cpoll/delpolln.html>(available on web) which recommends against such technologies in favour of biological treatment methods. The relevant part of the *WHITE PAPER ON POLLUTION IN DELHI **WITH AN ACTION PLAN, **GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT & FORESTS *reads "*4.1 *The NEERI studies show that the treatment of solid waste not reduces the quantity requiring disposal but also reduces its pollution potential thereby preventing its adverse impact on environment. Some treatment methods also yield a product which can be recycled. Thermal treatment methods such as incineration or conversion of waste to briquettes and its subsequent use as fuel are not feasible due to the low heat value of the municipal solid waste in MCD area. The experience of the incineration plant at Timarpur, Delhi and the briquetting plant at Bombay support the fact that thermal treatment of municipal solid waste is not feasible, in situations where the waste has a low calorific value. A critical analysis of biological treatment as an option was undertaken for processing of municipal solid waste in Delhi and it has been recommended that composting will be a viable option. Considering the large quantities of waste requiring to be processed, a mechanical composting plant will be needed. NEERI has indicated that vermicomposting is suitable when practised on a small scale only." The mere fact that investments have been made and some construction has happned in Okhla's plant cannot be an excuse for letting present and future generations to be exposed to persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals that will be emitted from incinerators under construction. The talk of shifting the plant is also quite hollow because mere shifting of a polluting plant does not make it non-polluting. Photographs available on toxicswatch.blogspot.com For Details: Gopal Krishna, Convener, ToxicsWatch Alliance, Mb: 9818089660, E-mail: [email protected] Web: toxicswatch.blogspot.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
