Integrated processing facility for CURE’s waste to be set up in Rangareddy’s Siddapur

Telangana Government is planning an integrated waste processing facility closer to the Future City development region in order to deal with various kinds of waste generated from the Core Urban Region (CURE) hosting Hyderabad’s three municipal corporations.

Eco town in Kothur mandal

The facility, called an ‘eco town’, is being set up in close to 87 acres of land belonging to the Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC) in Siddapur village of Kothur mandal, Rangareddy district, outside the Outer Ring Road (ORR), sources said.

It is an advanced recycling and waste-to-resource management facility, and unlike the solid waste management facility at Jawahar Nagar — which is at the centre of a controversy owing to complaints about air and water pollution, the Siddapur site will not be used as a destination for solid waste, officials informed.

It is aimed to establish state-of-the-art plants here for processing various kinds of waste, including segregated solid waste and e-waste, they said. To begin with, a Waste-to-Energy plant is being set up at the location, which could use up the Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) from the Jawahar Nagar facility.

Site not for dumping waste

While the move is being already opposed by the villages close to the site, officials assure that the site will not be used for waste dumping.

Establishment of this facility is not likely to cut down the waste arriving at Jawahar Nagar site, but it could reduce the burden on the latter, by speeding up the processing.

City’s solid waste treatment has become an insurmountable problem for municipal authorities, due to mismanagement at Jawahar Nagar facility where residents in 5 kilometre radius are affected by the stench and pollution from the garbage.

Leachate contaminated water bodies

Several water bodies have been contaminated by leachate emanating from the legacy dump here, and a joint action committee has been formed with residents to fight the air & water pollution. Recently, the University of California, Los Angeles, listed the Jawahar Nagar facility among the 25 sites in the waste sector with largest detected and quantified emission rate in the world.

Stiff opposition

The municipal authorities scouring for landfill spaces across the city, in order to decentralise the waste processing, have faced stiff opposition from the nearby residents. A site almost finalised at Pyaranagar village in Gummadidala mandal of Sangareddy district hit a dead-end after villagers started raucous protests, which culminated in a stay issued by the Telangana High Court.