[nukkad] FW: Press release: Toxic technology dumped in Mumbai city

["Nelson Fernandes" <>]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tip of the day:  This list archived on the web at:
         http://www.mumbai-central.com/nukkad/archive.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------




-----Original Message-----
From: Ashish Fernandes 
Subject: Press release: Toxic technology dumped in Mumbai city


Today's Issue

 TOXICS LINK                    Sanctuary

Mumbai: a Dumping Ground for Toxic Technology
The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has chosen an
unsustainable and hazardous technology route to manage its waste. It has
entered into an agreement that facilitates toxic technology transfer through
the establishment of a gasification based Waste To Energy (WTE) plant at
Mumbai's Gorai dumping ground. The Rs 242 crore plant of Energy Developments
Limited India (EDL) will gasify 1, 000 metric tonnes (MT) of the city's
waste per day to generate 21 MW of electricity.


"Gasification is a process which has all contaminants of incineration. It
emits dioxins, the most poisonous cancer causing toxin known in the world,"
says Dr N.K Bansal, Centre for Energy Studies, IIT Delhi. Two recent studies
have found high levels of dioxins in Indian breast milk.  Long-term exposure
is linked to impairment of the immune system, the developing nervous system,
the endocrine system and reproductive functions and falling sperm counts.
Like incineration, gasification also transfers the hazardous characteristics
of waste from the solid form to air, water and ash. This contradicts Sunand
Sharma, the Managing Director of EDL, who insists that incineration is not
gasification, and is the only way to cut down on landfill requirements.

In a scenario where India has neither the standards nor the technical
facilities to monitor and analyse these dioxin emissions, the MCGM has
signed an agreement with Energy Developments Limited India (EDL). They
intend to dispose of waste and recover electricity through the company's
'pressure cooker' technology, which it terms as Solid Waste Recycling
Facility (SWERF). The word 'recycling' in the process is a misnomer and can
mislead the public. A technology like this will kill the recycling sector
and destroy the livelihoods of people working in this sector.

According to A.M Gore, Chief Engineer, Solid Waste Management, "The
electricity generated from the WTE project will be sold at the rate of Rs
3.50 per unit. The plant has been given 7.33 hectares of land on lease for
20 years in Gorai. In order to get such projects implemented, the Union
Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy (MNES) has assured that it will provide
subsidies at the rate of Rs. 150 crore for a project of Rs 500 crore." The
waste will be provided by MCGM. According to Gore, the Power Purchase
Agreement (PPA) is being finalised unmindful of the high cost involved in
terms of health and Mumbai's environment. The truth about its polluting
nature must be in the permits and emission reports, which have been declared
'confidential' by Gore, even as the Right to Information Act is being
passed!


Official regulations seem to have been flouted with impunity. Authorisation
from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has not been obtained,
says Munshilal Gautam, Member Secretary, MPCB, even though this  is
mandatory under the Municipal Solid Waste (Management Handling) Rules (MSW),
2000. In addition, Gorai comes under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), and
constructing such a plant is a violation of this notification, says Debi
Goenka of the Bombay Environmental Action Group.


"Having already encroached on 40 acres of land in Ghatkopar for its Sewerage
System, the installation of a WTE plant will take away another 7.33 acres of
land unmindful of the CRZ notification protecting mangroves," says Bittu
Sahgal, Editor, Sanctuary Asia. The advocates of the project claim that no
segregation of the plastics from the garbage is required. This not only
violates the MSW Rules 2000, which stipulates segregation and promotes
recycling of 'recoverable resources' but also pre-empts segregation and
recycling efforts. "Actually this is yet another instance of ignoring
environment and public health effects that imperils the well being of
citizens. Gasification based Waste to Energy technology is a failed
technology," says Ravi Agarwal, a Solid Waste Expert of Srishti, a NGO.


Ash and suspended particulate matter which emerge from combustion
technologies is a huge perpetual problem. Although there is a volume
reduction of waste through this technique, the management of the ash
remnants remains a problem, says Dr D N Rao, Environment Economist from
Jawharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Trusting 1,000 tonnes of Mumbai's
waste per day to such an unproven technology is fraught with dangers.
Perhaps even more disturbing is the fact that EDL is being awarded such a
project when a similar plant owned by the parent company in New South Wales,
Australia has failed to perform to much lower requirements of 400 MT per
day.


Solid waste experts all over the world say that high temperature
technologies only perpetuate the waste problem. The consensus is that
instead of focussing on energy recovery, municipal corporations should go in
for material recovery through process like composting and biomethanation.


For further details contact:

Bittu Sahgal: Ph:2830081/61

E-mail: bittu@sanctuaryasia.com



Ravi Agarwal: Ph:011-4320711

E-mail: ravig1@vsnl.com



Debi Goenka: Ph: 2423126

E-mail: debi@beag.net



Gopal Krishna, Toxics Link, Ph: 011-4328006

E-mail: meetgopal27@rediffmail.com



Reshma Shivalkar, Toxics Link, Mumbai Ph:3752050,

E-mail: tlmumbai@vsnl.com



Sunand Sharma, EDL: Ph: 011 656 8511

E-mail: sunand.sharma@edlindia.com



Web resources on incineration and gasification:

www.no-burn.org

www.toxicslink.org

www.foe.co.uk

http://beehive.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/derbyfoe




------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To Subscribe [Unsubscribe] send a blank message to 
        nukkad-list-request@mumbai-central.com 
with the word 'subscribe' ['unsubscribe'] (without quotes) in the Subject 
of your message.
The list is archived at  http://www.mumbai-central.com/nukkad/archive.html