MIDC to set up Rs 35 cr waste disposal plant in Vidarbha

Maharashtra Industry Development Corporation (MIDC ) plans to set up a Rs 35 crore wholly integrated treatment, storage and disposal facility (TSDF) for solid and hazardous industrial waste.

The facility will come up on 75 acre Butibori industrial area on build, operate and own (BOO) basis. This is the first time that such a facility is coming up in Vidarbha. Talks are also on to produce "green power" from the TSDF.

The MIDC has awarded the contract to Nagpur-based Shaktikumar M Sancheti Ltd for setting up the facility.

The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has given permission for the project and the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee (SCMC) has directed that the facility should start receiving waste from February 2006.

Member secretary and chief executive officer of MPCB, D B Boralkar said that the board had noticed that industrial solid waste was being thrown in open spaces, streams, tanks, and rivers.

"There is a threat of air and water borne diseases when this happens," he said. The TSDF will dispose solid waste with the help of an incinerator or an elaborate land-fill programme, depending upon the nature of the waste, he said.