MCC moots industrial waste treatment facility

Buoyed by the “cleanest city” tag, the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) intends to keep the momentum going and is contemplating a facility to handle industrial waste.

At present, the industrial areas coming within the MCC limits do not have the facility for handling wastes and they are strewn along the roads or dumped in vacant sites.

Though it is a long-pending demand of the Mysore Industries Association (MIA) and other organisations, neither the MCC nor the KIADB had evinced interest in creating such a facility in the past.

However, MCC Commissioner C.G. Betsurmath told The Hindu that a facility for handling industrial wastes was in the pipeline, though it was yet to be given a concrete format. Some of the industrial areas in the MCC limits include the Bannimantap Industrial Area, Visveshwarnagar Industrial Area and Yadavgiri Industrial area. Here, a bulk of the micro and small-scale units are located and are engaged in manufacturing of electronics, automobile components, furniture, chemicals etc.

In the absence of any facility, the industries tend to dump the residual waste. These, when left untreated, tend to pollute groundwater besides contaminating the soil in the vicinity.

The horizontal expansion of the city over the years has resulted in these layouts coming under the MCC limits and morphing into residential-cum-industrial areas. “The waste is dumped on roadsides or storm water drains and prolonged exposure to these also pose a health hazard to the employees as also local residents,” said Suresh Kumar Jain, general secretary of the MIA.

The Commissioner said mini waste treatment plants for multi-storeyed housing complexes, including apartments, was being contemplated to wean them away from the local waste management system. “I had a talk with the Builders Association of India recently and have mooted the idea and they were receptive to it,” he added.

“Besides, the technology is so advanced and a mini-treatment plant can be installed in an area the size of a car. It will not cost the builders much,” said Mr. Betsurmath. Already, large complexes have installed their own waste management plants and are functional, said the Commissioner. The other long-term plan was to have more compost plans in view of the projected growth of the city and its population.

Article source:http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/mcc-moots-industrial-waste-treatment-facility/article7520807.ece