MARGAO: Margao’s first five TPD (tonnes per day) biomethanation power project that was launched with much fanfare in November 2021 may have to be shut down if the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) is unable to clear dues worth Rs 82.72 lakh owed to the company operating the waste treatment plant, by August 15.
The MMC had awarded this project, worth Rs 2.4 crore, to Pune-based Urja Biosystems Pvt Ltd, which had set up the plant on a pilot basis. The civic body had plans to launch four other five TPD plants based on the success of this first project.
The plant, which was built to treat 5,000 kgs of vegetable, fish and other organic waste each day and also generate 450 units of power, faced teething problems right after it was commissioned, as it did not receive sufficient wet waste, even considering the waste that is generated at the SGPDA market. It was only in March 2022, that the plant had started functioning fully.
However, the plant’s operations recently started facing problems again, and an environmental audit had been conducted, during which the MMC and the company were pulled up as the plant was not being used to its capacity. There were various other technical issues, for which corrective action was urgently required.
The environmental audit was prepared by Dr Sachin Tendulkar, Chief Executive Officer of the Mineral Foundation of Goa; Dr Jagannath Hirkude, professor, Goa Engineering College; Abhinav Apte, director, Track Change LLP and Pravin Faldesai, Goa State Pollution Control Board.
The waste management company has now demanded that its dues be cleared and has threatened to stop operations and maintenance of the plant, if the MMC fails to pay up by August 15.
Sources said that 60 per cent of the dues were paid by the MMC at the time of construction of the plant. The remaining 40 per cent, a sum of Rs 71.51 lakh, was not cleared. In addition, there are pending dues of Rs 11.20 lakh towards running and maintaining the plant for the past six months.
Sources at MMC said that the company is being questioned as to why the plant was unable to meet its objectives, and that the civic body is against clearing the entire amount to the company until the plant can operate to its optimum capacity.
Veteran MMC councillor Ghanshyam Shirodkar has already raised objections against the company due to the issues at the plant, in light of the high expenditure incurred by the municipality and the proposal to set up four more plants in the future.