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Nagpur: Residents of Ghugus town in Chandrapur district have lodged a complaint with police and Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) alleging increase in pollution as the cement manufacturing plant there is using processed garbage brought from Nagpur.
When TOI checked with Zigma Global Environ Solutions Pvt Ltd, NMC’s contractor for bio-mining of 10 lakh metric tonne (MT) legacy waste, the agency stated it has disposed of 7.5 lakh MT, of which around 1.5 lakh MT has been utilized as an alternative fuel in cement plants situated in Maharashtra and four other states.
After receiving complaints from residents of Ghugus about foul smell emanating from a truck parked at ACC Limited, a team led by president of NCP local unit, Dilip Pittalwar, and Mahesh Latta identified the vehicle. Pittalwar lodged a complaint with Ghugus police station demanding an offence be registered against ACC Limited.
Pointing out that Ghugus is the most polluted area in the state, Pittalwar said people of Ghugus and Nakoda are facing serious problems due to pollution caused by cement plant of ACC Limited, other factories and coal mines. “Pollution has increased in the last few months, which is happening due to burning of garbage in the plant. This garbage is being brought from Nagpur,” he said.
Pittalwar added MPCB and Neeri should collect samples of the garbage to test whether it can be burned in the plant located right in the village. “The foul smell was coming from plastic, clothes etc loaded in the truck. MPCB should provide the testing data for garbage being used in the plant,” he said.
Police station officer of Ghugus BR Pusate told TOI that they have asked MPCB to inspect and give report. “Further action will be taken after receiving the report,” he said.
Incharge of the plant Anil Gupta said, “It is a frivolous complaint. We are using permissible materials and after taking all approvals. There is nothing illegal going on,” he said. On the material loaded in the truck, Gupta said it was permissible one.
TOI found that that ACC Limited had brought the material from Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s (NMC) garbage dumping yard at Bhandewadi.
Director of Zigma Global Environ Solutions Pvt Ltd, said, “It is residue derived fuel (RDF) which has been produced after segregation and processing of legacy waste. RDF is used as alternate fuel in cement plants and contains all combustible items like cloth, plastic, rubber, wood etc,” he said.
The director stated that of the 7.5 lakh MT legacy waste disposed of till date, 20% has been utilized by cement plants in the state, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh in a scientific manner. “We reclaimed 35 acres NMC land with bio-mining,” he said.
Regional officer of MPCB, AM Kare, said that RDF produced from processing of legacy waste can be used in cement plants as an alternative fuel as per guidelines of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). “We continuously check the parameters and will also look into the latest complaints,” he said.
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