Cuttack: A National Green Tribunal (NGT)-appointed committee has recommended that Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) gradually scale down the waste processing facility at Kapilaprasad and divert wet waste to a proposed 300 tonne a day compressed bio-gas (CBG) plant at Meherpalli.The committee expected BMC to examine how much wet waste currently sent to Kapilaprasad can be diverted to Meherpalli after commissioning, with a view to “phased scaling-down” of the Kapilaprasad MCC and resolving the odour issues. The committee noted that BMC and Oil India Ltd are developing a 300 TPD CBG plant at Meherpalli, with commercial production targeted for April 2027. Consent to establish has already been granted.The recommendation came in a joint inspection report submitted before NGT East zone bench on Sept 11. The tribunal has taken the report on record and listed the case for final hearing on Oct 16. The committee was constituted by the tribunal on May 26 to inquire into allegations of environmental violations and poor living conditions allegedly caused by two micro compost centres (MCCs) and a material recovery facility (MRF) operating inside Kapilaprasad Housing Board Colony in ward no. 67.Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) Bhubaneswar regional officer Sohan Giri and additional district magistrate Ramesh Chandra Jena carried out the inspection on July 3. Rajkishore Swain, a 71-year-old colony resident, filed the petition alleging that the facilities were being operated in violation of the solid waste management rules, 2016 and without mandatory pollution control board authorisation. Advocates Sankar Prasad Pani and Ashutosh Padhy appeared for the petitioner.The committee found that the MCC was in a “predominantly residential locality” and was surrounded by residential plots on several sides. It also noted that there has been recurring odour complaint from the locality since 2021.The panel recommended that BMC, within 60 days, apply for authorisation under the solid waste management rules and obtain consent to establish and consent to operate under the Water and Air Acts if the facility’s combined capacity exceeds 5 tonnes per day.It also asked housing and urban development department and Bhubaneswar Development Authority to clarify the site’s land-use status and whether it was part of a heritage zone or had earlier served as a natural rainwater drainage channel. Until these issues are resolved, BMC should not increase the facility’s processing capacity and must strengthen “odour and vector-control measures” and ensure proper treatment of leachate. A functional stormwater and leachate management system has also been recommended.
