Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development Botcha Satyanarayana has said that effective solid waste management is the key to achieve the target of becoming a ‘Clean Andhra Pradesh’.
The Minister, along with Special Chief Secretary Y. Srilakshmi, Director of Municipal Administration M. Mallikarjuna Naik, District Collector Vivek Yadav and MD of Swachh Andhra Corporation Sampath Kumar inspected the works at the 15 MW Jindal Waste to Energy Plant at Obulunaiduvaripalem near Guntur on Thursday.
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is likely to virtually inaugurate the plant soon.
The plant is the biggest of its kind in the State where 12 ULBs, including Guntur and Vijayawada Municipal Corporations, have signed an MoU with Jindal Ecropolis to process the solid waste and convert it to energy by using incineration technology. The firm has already signed an agreement with APSPDCL to provide power at ₹6.20 per unit.
The Guntur Municipal Corporation had allotted 15.50 acres near the dumping yard and proposed to supply treated water from the STP.
M.M. Chary, project manager, said that works related to plant and machinery had been completed and the plant would be operationalised within 20 days after integration of sub-stations and interlinking of water supply lines.
“I would also like to remind the ULBs of the importance of solid waste segregation at source which is not happening. Unless the solid waste is segregated into dry and wet waste, the plant cannot become operational fully,’’ said the Minister.
The Government of A.P. signed an MoU with Jindal in February 2016 but the works have been in limbo for the past two years. The Swachh Andhra Corporation has arranged 720 vehicles for transportation of garbage.
