Let us not ‘waste’ any more time for WTE plant

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Even as the city gears up to mark World Environment Day on June 5, it is time to highlight a report in this paper which stated that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) ambitious waste-to-energy (WTE) project has stalled for want of a No Objection Certificate from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB). The Central government had given the project clearance in a month.

To give context to this, the BMC had approved a Rs 504-crore waste-to-energy mega project in November 2021 at the Deonar dumping ground. The environment clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change came in December 2021. After that BMC approached MPCB, but is awaiting the green light.

The state pollution control board did not respond seeking comment in the report, but like activists and other officials, one hopes there is a real push for the project and the No Objection Certificate comes in without any further delay.

Basic work has started but till the NOC comes in, it is still tenterhooks time. The Deonar dumping ground has been a major bone of contention for years now, with residents in the vicinity regularly complaining about adverse effects.

For years now, voices have been raised for change or something to mitigate the problems because of the dump. Finally, there is some movement so it is vital that the project is not inordinately delayed for this one permission and the file not stuck somewhere for some mysterious reason.

This also illustrates that though there is a real push for combating climate crisis and green awareness, with a slew of programmes to mark World Environment Day, there are also huge on ground challenges. An official has stated that it will take 40 months for completion of this plant. There are treatments for solid waste, wet waste… but no treatment for a waste of time.