GUWAHATI, Dec 21 � The Pollution Control Board, Assam (PCBA) has constituted a committee to go into the issues related to the garbage dumped on the fringe of the Deepor Beel at Boragaon. The Central Pollution Control Board is also sending a team from its Shillong Regional Office to study the garbage deposit shortly.
PCBA Member Secretary HK Gogoi told this correspondent here today that the Board constituted the committee, comprising Senior Environment Engineers of its Guwahati Regional office and Guwahati headquarters, Deputy Analyst of its Central Laboratory and its Assistant Environment Engineer posted at the headquarters.
The committee has been asked to submit its report within one week. If it is found that the authorities connected with the garbage dump have violated any of the terms and conditions agreed upon for dumping garbage at the site, the PCBA will go for appropriate action against them, Gogoi said.
Meanwhile, official sources said that the State Wetland Steering Committee, headed by the Commissioner and Secretary of the Environment and Forests Department, has not been able to hold its meeting for the past over three years. The last meeting of the Steering Committee was held on September 5, 2007, said the sources.
Sources said, quoting a PCBA analysis, that there is significant decrease in the pH value indicating increase in acidity of the Deepor Beel water during the past two years. This may be attributed to the leachate coming from the deposited garbage, also called municipal solid waste (MSW).
Institute of Advance Studies in Science and Technology (IASST) scientist Dr Sabitri Bordoloi has also warned that the entire Deepor Beel wetland is going to be zero biotic � that is, not fit for any living organism� within a very short period due to the toxic materials, including selenium and other heavy metals, released by the MSW dump.
The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) had granted environmental clearance to the Guwahati Waste Management Company Pvt Ltd on August 31, 2009 for development of an integrated MSW management site on an area of 24.12 hectares at Boragaon.
The environment clearance notification of MoEF said that the project consists of door to door MSW collection. The company would have a processing complex comprising a refuse derived fuel (RDF) plant to handle 500 tonne per day (TPD) MSW. The mixed MSW would be converted into the RDF in the plant, while the compost plant will have the capacity to handle 50 TPD of organic waste. The organic components of the MSW will be segregated during the RDF process and will be treated in the compost plant to produce manure.
The notification also mentioned the component of power generation from the MSW. The company is to generate 6 MW of power from the MSW. The conditions slapped on the company by the MoEF for clearing the project included, among others, the proponent should ensure that the project fulfills all the provisions of Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling Rules), 2000 including collection and transportation design to landfill etc.
Further, the leachate from the facility shall be collected and treated to meet the prescribed standards before disposal. Significantly, it also said that incineration of wastes should not be carried out at the project site.
