South Delhi residents cry foul as waste plant set to expand

‘One of the crucial solutions to clear landfills is to increase number of WTE plants’

A view of Timarpur Okhla Waste Management Company plant at Jasola in Delhi. | Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

With the Timarpur Okhla Waste Management Company looking to enhance the processing capacity of its waste-to-energy (WTE) plant in Okhla, residents based in areas surrounding the plant — Sukhdev Vihar, Haji Colony and Jasola — remain a worried bunch.

The worry stems from Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena’s direction to officials in early June to increase the plant’s waste intake by 1,000 tonnes per day and to increase its energy generation to 40 MW from its existing 21 MW. 

For U.K. Bhardwaj, president, resident welfare association (RWA), Pocket-B, Sukhdev Vihar, the L-G’s directions came as a complete “disregard” for the concerns of the residents who have been demanding the relocation of the WTE plant, even before it was set up nearly a decade ago.

Mr. Bhardwaj said that the area’s residents suffer from the “toxic emissions” and foul smell from the plant, adding that people see the plant as a “health hazard”. 

‘Complete eyewash’

The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) on August 16 held a public hearing on enhancing the energy generation capacity of the plant. But the residents of Sukhdev Vihar and surrounding areas termed it a “complete eyewash”.

“The public hearing is merely a formality because when the project was sanctioned, in 2008, no public hearing was held. A case regarding this WTE plant is already in the Supreme Court, so what was the urgency for the L-G to call for the plant’s expansion?” said Mr. Bhardwaj.

He added that the Union Environment Ministry had, in 2020 imposed a condition that prohibited the expansion of the plant’s power generation capacity beyond 23 MW.

“The public hearing seemed as if it was staged because there were people holding placards stating that they were in favour of the plant’s presence. These people were present at the venue, which was in Madanpur Khadar, at around 10 a.m. and they were not residents of the areas close to the plant,” said a lawyer resident of Sukhdev Vihar. 

He added that the plant is violating pollution norms, for which it has been fined in the past.  “However, the officials, were clearly biased since they did not focus on our objections to the plant,” he also said. 

‘Difficult to breathe’

Residents and shop owners based in the area told The Hindu that it had become increasingly difficult to adjust to the foul stench from the plant. 

Others said that layers of ash settled on the balconies, windshields and bonnets of their cars. They added that previous attempts to enhance the plant’s energy generation capacity, in 2019, were resisted successfully by the area’s residents. 

In 2021, the DPCC imposed a fine of ₹5 lakh on the Timarpur Okhla Waste Management Company. Its order, based on a joint inspection by officials of the DPCC and the Central Pollution Control Board, stated that dioxins, furans and Hydrogen chloride (HCL) in the emissions exceeded prescribed limits. 

“The existence of this plant is hurtful to everyone living around. It is located at a distance of fewer than 100 metres from a DDA housing society. We feel choked at times and our eyes start to burn. The politicians have also not been of any help to us,” said a medical professional based in the area, who did not wish to be named. 

‘No plans to shut it’

A senior Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) official said that the civic body’s only responsibility is to deliver municipal solid waste to the plant, adding that the facility was part of a public-private partnership (PPP) established between the then Sheila Dikshit-led Delhi government. 

“Another WTE plant will be set up at Tehkhand, it will have a processing capacity of 2,000 tonnes per day (TPD) and an energy generation capacity of 25 MW. However, this does not mean that the Timarpur-Okhla plant will be shut,” said the MCD official.

The official also said that these WTE plants were being set up to meet the shortfall in the processing capacity of landfill waste, which is currently close to 5,000 TPD. “The approval to increase the energy generation capacity of the Timarpur-Okhla WTE plant is still pending,” the senior MCD official added. 

The senior official said as more waste continues to be dumped at the city’s landfill sites, “one of the crucial solutions” to clear the landfills is to increase the number of WTE plants and the capacity of existing facilities.

“Wherever these plants are set up, there will be residents around but we cannot stop our work due to this. Even in the case of the Timarpur-Okhla WTE plant, the DPCC monitors its emissions on a real-time basis. Remedial action will be taken immediately, in case of any violation,” said the senior official, underplaying the concerns of the residents.