look news india
The organic waste generated from our homes, vegetable markets and gardening is going to play a big role in the resolution to make India a fully developed country (Viksit Bharat) by the year 2047. What we often consider useless and throw it in the dustbin is going to become a strong base of our economy in the future.
A recent report by think-tank ‘Council on Energy, Environment and Water’ (CEEW) has claimed that if the right policies and ‘green transition’ model are adopted in the country, the wet waste management market will be worth around Rs 5.1 lakh crore within the next 20 years. This will not only give a new impetus to our economy, but also has the power to change the face of big cities of the country.
From problem to solution: What is the situation now?
At present, almost half of the solid waste generated daily from Indian cities is wet waste (kitchen utensils, rotten vegetables and plant remains). Despite being available in such large quantities, we are still far behind in its proper use.
The existing technologies and future changes can be easily understood from the table given below:
If we rapidly move this waste management model of the country towards automated biomethanation, it will greatly reduce our dependence on chemical fertilizers in the fields. Along with this, Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) will be produced on a large scale, which will reduce India’s huge bill of importing expensive fuel and gas from abroad to a great extent.
Why is this new technology a boon for Delhi?
The country’s capital Delhi is currently struggling with huge mountains of garbage and record breaking heat in Ghazipur, Bhalswa and Okhla. In such a situation, this green model is most important for Delhi. Decomposing waste in these dumping yards releases huge amounts of methane gas, which increases temperatures locally and creates ‘thermal hot spots’. For this reason, the incidence of deadly heat wave is increasing every year in Delhi. Processing this waste will directly convert methane into clean energy, which will also strengthen grassroots initiatives like the ‘Heatwave Van’ launched by the Delhi Secretariat.
Steps towards ‘zero waste’
Delhi’s ‘Master Plan 2041’ already talks about making the city completely ‘zero waste’ and promoting circular economy. As per the suggestions of this report, small biogas plants can be installed on-site (i.e. within the society or commercial hub itself) in new urban clusters like Narela in Delhi and Transit Oriented Development (TOD) projects of DDA. With this, the waste there can be converted into electricity and gas directly there instead of going outside.
Experts believe that by strictly implementing the rules of Public Private Partnership (PPP Model), investment through green bonds and source segregation of dry and wet waste from homes by the municipal corporations, we can not only make the entire country including Delhi garbage-free, but can also generate the best wealth from this waste.
