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Showing posts with label Jindal's municipal waste incinerator. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jindal's municipal waste incinerator. Show all posts
Angry residents of Okhla stop Public hearing on expansion of Jindal's waste based thermal power plant
Written By mediavigil on Wednesday, January 16, 2019 | 6:52 AM
Jindal's thermal power plant poses threat to present & future generation of residents
Okhla enveloped in a toxic gas chamber as a consequence of use of such
hazardous incinerator technology by the company
Crtique of the Public Hearing and Draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) sent to DPCC
A letter signed by the people who came for the protest against
illegal and fake public hearing on the expansion of existing waste based
thermal power plant of Jindal's company located at Sukhdev Vihar,
Okhla, New Delhi has been submitted registering vehement opposition to
the project.
The public hearing was scheduled at DM's office at Lajpat
Nagar but it did not happen over there. The attached letter describes
that people did not allow anyone to enter the rescheduled public hearing
venue. The protesters did not allow any camera, not even a single
person from Administration and from Delhi Pollution Control Committee to
begin the public hearing process. The residents demanded that this
public hearing must be considered as null and void ab initio. 
A letter
has been sent to the Member Secretary, DPCC, Chief Secretary, NCT of
Delhi, Deputy Commissioner (South East), NCT of Delhi, Secretary, Union
Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change. The signatories
included S Khan, President, Sukhdev Vihar Residents Welfare Association,
Pocket A, Abdul Rashid Agwan,Convener, Volunteer for Change, Vimal
Bhai,National Convenor, National Alliance of Peoples Movements (NAPM)
and Gopal Krishna of ToxicWatchAlliance (TWA).
Prior to the Public Hearing, on the Expansion of Waste To Energy
Plant of Timarpur Okhla Waste Management Company Ltd at Okhla STP, Near
Sukhdev Vihar, New Delhi, ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA), sent a critique of the
public hearing and the Draft EIA of the proposed expansion project and its submission to the EAC on Thermal Power Projects
Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the
Sub-Committee on Expansion of Okhla waste to energy from 16 MW to 40 MW
Indira Paryavaran Bhavan.
The
critique concludes that there is a logical compulsion to withdraw the
environmental clearance given to this plant in order to save present and
future generation of residents from being enveloped in a toxic gas
chamber as a consequence of use of such hazardous incinerator technology
adopted for generating energy from waste which admittedly has hazardous
waste characteristics.
For Details: Gopal Krishna, ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA) Mb: 9818089660, Email: krishnagreen@gmail.com, Web: www.toxicswatch.org
NGT reserves final verdict on Jindal’s hazardous Okhla ‘waste to energy’ plant, residents await relief
Written By mediavigil on Thursday, January 26, 2017 | 12:09 AM
Takes cognizance of violation of Supreme Court’s order, unapproved
Chinese technology used by waste incineration based power plant
Lawlessness rules the roost in Okhla amidst public health
crisis
The final hearing in the case
pertaining to unapproved Chinese incineration technology based Waste-to-Energy
plant of The Timarpur Okhla Waste Management Company Pvt. Ltd. (TOWMCPL), M/s
Jindal Urban Infrastructure Limited (JUIL), a company of M/s Jindal Saw Group
Limited at Sukhdev Vihar, Okhla has been completed and the judgement has been
reserved as per National Green Tribunal (NGT)'s order dated December 23, 2016.
In the meanwhile, prior to the pronouncement of the final verdict, NGT
Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar called the parties again on January 16,
2017 for a final round of clarification. NGT asked the Jindal company whether,
the plant in question is a Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) plant? Is it one of the
five Supreme Court approved pilot projects based on biomethanation technology?
It inferred that the plant was neither a RDF plant for which approval was taken
nor is it a Supreme Court approved pilot project. The plant is situated in the
vicinity of Okhla Bird Sanctuary, public institutions and residential
colonies.
The NGT's Principal Bench of Justice Kumar, Judicial
Member, Mr Raghuvendra S. Rathore, Expert Member, Bikram Singh Sajwan and
Expert Dr. Ajay A Deshpande passed the following order titled 'Orders of the
Tribunal Supplementary matter':
"Learned Counsel appearing for the parties submit
that the original project was with regard to Waste Processing Plant at Timarpur
and Okhla. RDF was to be generated at Timarpur and pallets were to be brought
to Okhla to be used as a fuel for generation of power. The Timarpur Project
never took off. Infact, it never was established as proposed.
Bio-methanisation did not commence as wet/green waste from Azadpur was not
available to the plant. It is also commonly agreed that principal challenge of
the Applicant to the issue of change in technology is that the plant, to which
the Environmental Clearance, consent to operate, establish was granted was to
the process waste/bio-methanate/ RDF and energy which was changed without
amendment of Environmental Clearance or taking consent and that it was changed
to waste directly to incineration in boilers and generation of power."
It must be
recalled that it all began with a proposal of Municipal Corporation of Delhi
(MCD) for a waste to energy (WTE) project at Timarpur with The Timarpur Waste
Management Company Pvt. Ltd. (TWMCPL), a subsidiary of Infrastructure Leasing
& Financial Services Ltd. (IL&FS).
A Memorandum of Understanding between MCD and IL&FS was signed in
March 2005 by D K Mittal, the then CEO of TWMCPL and Rakesh Mehta, the then
Commissioner of MCD. On March 14, 2005, MCD said that it plans to earn carbon
credits from the project. In a subsequent development, Unique Waste Processing
Company (UWPCL), a subsidiary of the IL&FS had incorporated the Timarpur
Waste Management Company Pvt. Ltd (TWMCL) – through a public-private
partnership (PPP) initiative – as a ‘special purpose vehicle’ for developing
the waste-processing project at Delhi’s Timarpur site. Later, the management
took a decision to also include the Okhla site and, hence, had the name of the
company changed to TOWMCL. The original project proponent IL&FS
incorporated a company named UWPCL as a 100% subsidiary for developing
municipal waste processing projects. Then, UWPCL established a company namely
TOWMCL for implementation of this project which was to be run by a Project
Developer selected on the basis of competitive bidding. .
The project
proponents remained unmindful of the fact that RDF, a co-incineration technolgy
is completely inappropriate for Indian urban waste, which is largely
biodegradable in nature. They extract a very high cost for the energy, which
the plant claims to generate. The cost–benefit scenario projected by the
proponents does not include environmental and health costs caused by toxic
releases. These technologies also use valuable resources that can be recycled,
such as plastics and metals, and support a massive recycling sector in the
country. RDF is a thermal and combustion technology, mainly used to prepare
waste for mass incineration. Burning of mixed waste will create problems of
very toxic compounds such as dioxins and furans, heavy metals, and other
pollutants. The calorific value for the waste comes from material such as
plastics and metals. Plastics, especially chlorinated plastics such as
polyvinyl chloride (PVC), when combusted gives rise to these highly toxic
pollutants like Dioxins. PVC plastic combustion, which is part of the mixed
waste, is banned in India by regulations both in the municipal and bio-medical
waste-handling rules.
The order in the Sukhdev Vihar Residents Welfare
Association Vs State of NCT of Delhi (Original Application No. 22 (THC) of
2013) dated December 23, 2016 reads: "Arguments heard. Judgment
reserved" by the order of NGT's Principal Bench of Justice Swatanter
Kumar, Chairperson, Judicial Member Mr U.D. Salvi, Judicial Member Mr
Raghuvendra S. Rathore, Expert Member, Mr Bikram Singh Sajwan and Expert Member,
Ranjan Chatterjee.
In a related
development, ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA) wrote Lieutenant Governor, Government
of NCT of Delhi on January 2, 2017, on the subject of “Lawlessness in Okhla
after expiry of consent to operate & provisional authorization too expired
on December 31, 2016”
The letter drew
his attention towards the specific case of the lawlessness in Okhla that is
setting a very bad precedent now that the after expiry of consent to operate,
even the provisional authorization of for municipal solid waste (MSW) based
thermal power plant of Timarpur-Okhla Waste Management Co Pvt Ltd (TOWMCL) of
M/s Jindal Urban Infrastructure Limited (JUIL), a company of M/s Jindal Saw
Group Limited has expired on December 31, 2016.
The minutes of the
meeting held on 24/06/2016 under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary,
Government of NCT of Delhi to implement the orders of National Green Tribunal
in the matter of Original Application No. 22/2013 reveals that “Regarding Okhla
plant it was informed by the DPCC, that as per the decision taken by Consent
Management Committee (CMC) in its 26th meeting held on 11/3/2016 the
plant may operate on provisional basis and improve its emission standards to 30
mg/Nm3 as per direction of DPCC/Hon’ble NGT for transitional period till
31/12/2016. The Chief Secretary, Delhi, desired that the Chairman DPCC should
take a meeting with all the stake holders, and an all out effort should be made
to improve emission standards before 31/12/2016”. (Source: Department of Urban
Development, Government of NCT of Delhi dated 06.07.2016 (F.N
13/56/CC/MB/UD/2016/1327-1341). It is quite clear from this minute that after
the expiry of consent to operate, provisional authorization too has expired on
December 31, 2016.
The official
documents reveal how conditions of Land Allotment to New Delhi Municipal
Council (NDMC), the municipal council of the city of New Delhi imposed by Delhi
Development Agency (DDA) have been breached to facilitate “land grab” for a
hazardous waste to power plant in Okhla endangering public health. It may be
noted that Indian waste has hazardous waste characteristics.
A letter dated
June 18, 1980 sent from DDA to NDMC on the subject of allotment of land at Okhla
for compost plant. The letter specifically states the conditions for the
allotment. The letter reads: “The land shall be used by N.D.M.C. for the
construction of compost plant and for no other purpose whatsoever.” It further
reads: “The land shall not be transferred to any other Department without prior
permission of DDA obtained in writing.” Another letter from DDA dated August 4,
1995 sent to N.D.M.C. reiterates: “The allotted land shall be used for the
purpose of compost plant and no other purpose whatsoever”. These letters
reveals that the allotment of land to NDMC was a conditional allotment subject
to compliance with the stated conditions. Given the fact that NDMC has violated
these conditions in an apparent exercise of facilitating “land grab” for
municipal solid waste (MSW) based thermal power plant of Timarpur-Okhla Waste
Management Co Pvt Ltd (TOWMCL) of M/s Jindal Urban Infrastructure Limited
(JUIL), a company of M/s Jindal Saw Group Limited. In a significant
disclosure it has come to light that there are two lease deeds for a total of
13.5 acres. NDMC has violated the conditions imposed by DDA with regard to both
of them.
A September 2008
document of Infrastructure Leasing & Finance Services (IL&FS)
Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd focused on Timarpur-Okhla integrated
municipal waste facility referred to contractual framework and mentioned about
“Land License Agreement for Okhla and Timarpur land for use of land for 25
years” and Shri Anurag Goyal, the then Director Projects, NDMC was recorded
saying, “NDMC provided land as its equity to the project.”
It is noteworthy
that Appellate Tribunal for Electricity for New Delhi headed by Justice
Surendra Kumar and Mr Rakesh Nath recorded on 19th May, 2015 a submission about
“Land leased by NDMC on nominal rate” as part of “promotional steps were taken
to promote Timarpur Okhla’s Plant” as part of its Judgment in Appeal Nos. 251
of 2013 and 325 of 2013. The company Timarpur-Okhla Waste Management
Company Ltd (TOWMCL) Old NDMC Compost Plant, Behind Central Road Research
Institute (CRRI), Mathura Road, New Delhi was appellant.
The documents from
1980, 1995, 2008 and 2015 create a compelling logic for DDA to cancel the land
allotment to NDMC and ensure that the land from TOWMCL is taken back and given
to DDA.
It is an
established practice that even a minor change with regard to land use is
required to published in the Gazette notification but the same has not been
done. Had DDA permitted changes in land use at Okhla, it would have published a
similar Gazette notification.
Residents and environmental
groups like ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA) have been at a loss to comprehend as to
why have Delhi Government and Central Government not acted to save public
health in the face hazards from a highly polluting plant which has violated
every environmental norm and caused serious public health crisis. Unmindful of
the demands of the environmental groups and residents who seek closure of the
plant, the Chief Secretary has been paying lip-service about making efforts to
“improve emission standards.” This is manifestly misleading given the fact that
emission standards fixed by law have to be complied with and in the case of
non-compliance the plant has to be shut down for good. The legality of
allowing the plant to operate with “provisional” consent following withdrawal
of consent to operate has been highly questionable. Given the fact that all the
relevant clearances were granted for RDF technology, not for the unapproved
Chinese technology which has been used by the company, the grant of provisional
consent demonstrates collusion and connivance of the DPCC and Delhi Government.
This power plant
of TOWMCL was supposed to use RDF technology but it has been using an
unapproved Chinese technology brought to light by the report of Technical
Experts Evaluation Committee headed by Chairman, Central Pollution Control
Board (CPCB) prepared pursuant to 22th March 2011 dated order of the Union
Minister of Environment & Forests. This constitutes deviations from
approved technology. The Chinese technology provider is from Hangzhou New
Century Company Ltd of Hangzhou Boiler Group. The High Powered Technical
Experts Evaluation Committee of CPCB in its 31 page report on the
Timarpur-Okhla Waste to Energy Incinerator Plant brought to light the
illegalities committed by Jindal's TOWMCL. The report was communicated on March
22, 2012. This report is based on three meetings of the Technical Experts
Evaluation Committee held on April 26, 2011, August 11, 2011 and September 22,
2011 under the chairmanship of Chairman, CPCB.
In a related case
in an order Delhi High Court has observed, "10. In Master Plan for Delhi,
2021, notified on 07.02.2007, hazardous waste processing viz. hospital/medical/industrial
waste is amongst the industries, manufacturing of which shall be prohibited
within National Capital Territory of Delhi." The Court observed that
"This is a mandatory requirement of the guidelines issued by CPCB, that
such facility should be far away from residential and sensitive areas"
This plant
occupies some 10 acres of green area under the Master Plan of Delhi. In view of
the above submission, the letter has sought intervention of Lt Governor to
ensure compliance with conditions imposed by DDA, relevant environmental rules and
consider closure of the Dioxins emitting power plant located in a residential
and ecologically sensitive area.
Residents and
environmental groups who have been struggling against the proposal of such
hazardous technology based plant since March 2005 await the final verdict of
NGT with bated breath.
For Details: Gopal Krishna, ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA), Mb: 9818089660, 08227816731, E-mail:
krishna1715@gmail.com, Web:www.toxicswatch.org
Delhi Govt refuses to renew license of Synergy company’s bio-medical waste incinerator, High Court refuses relief to the Okhla plant
Written By mediavigil on Friday, May 29, 2015 | 4:10 AM
May 29, 2015: Following Delhi Government’s refusal to renew license
of Synergy company’s bio-medical waste incinerator, Delhi High Court has refused relief to the Okhla plant. It
termed company’s application for relief as infructuous, ineffective,
unproductive and unfruitful.
The case against Chief
Secretary, Government of NCT of Delhi and Managing Director, M/s Synergy Waste
Management Pvt Ltd was disposed off on 28th May, 2015 following
closure of Bio-Medical Waste
Incinerator located in the vicinity of DDA Flats, Sukhdev Vihar, Okhla, New
Delhi due to expiry and non-renewal of its license after 18th
May, 2015. In a remarkable move, Delhi Government had kept itself ready to face
this situation. It illustrates how peoples’ resistance can compel the
government to listen to them.
An Office Memorandum (OM)
dated 15th May, 2015, Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) shows
that the state government had planned for “redistribution of area among two common
bio-medical waste treatment facilities (CBMWTFs) in Delhi, in the vent of
closure of Synergy Waste Management Pvt Ltd. on 18.05.2015.” The OM was signed
by Kulanand Joshi, Member Secretary, DPCC. The OM is attached. This was an outcome
the meeting residents had with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
It is noteworthy that the
attached Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s manifesto for Kalkaji had recognized the
public health concerns emanating from this polluting plant and had promised to make
efforts and struggle with Okhla residents against it.
Notably, Delhi High
Court had re-ordered immediate closure of biomedical waste incinerator plant
Sukhdev Vihar, Okhla while the Civil
Contempt Petition No 102/2014 filed in Writ Petition (C) No. 6976 of 2008
against Chief Secretary, Govt. of NCT of Delhi and Managing Director, Synergy
Waste Management Pvt Ltd in the matter of Dioxins emitting biomedical waste
incinerator in Sukhdev Vihar, Okhla.
After Delhi High
Court's judgment dated 15th January, 2013 established the adverse health
impacts from the incinerator based on existing medical literature, the fate of M/s Synergy Waste Management Pvt. Ltd.
(SWMPL) which operated Bio-Medical Waste Incinerator located in the vicinity of
DDA Flats, Sukhdev Vihar, Okhla, New Delhi was sealed. This order had come in
response a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in 2008 seeking its closure.
But when Chief Secretary, Government of NCT of Delhi and Contemnor no.1
and Neeraj Agarwal, Managing Director, M/s Synergy Waste Management Pvt Ltd, Contemnor
No.2 did not comply with the order in contempt of this Court’s Judgment, a Civil
Contempt Petition was filed. A review petition No. 111/2013 filed by the
company was dismissed on 27th February, 2013.
The High Court judgment
refers to 'The summary of "Epidemiological Studies on Adverse Health
Effects Associated with Incineration" would show that medical waste
incinerators are a leading source of dioxins and mercury in the environment and
there is link between incinerator emissions and adverse health impacts on
incinerator workers and residents living around the incinerators.'
The observations made
in the judgment will have far reaching implications. It reads: "Both older
and more modern incinerators can contribute to the contamination of local soil
and vegetation with dioxins and heavy metals. In several European countries,
cow"s milk from farms located in the vicinity of incinerators has been
found to contain elevated levels of dioxin, in some cases above regulatory
limits. Increased levels of dioxins have been found in the tissues of residents
near to incinerators in the UK, Spain and Japan. At an incinerator in Finland,
mercury was increased in hair of residents living in the vicinity. Children
living near a modern incinerator in Spain were found to have elevated levels of
urinary thioethers, a biomarker of toxic exposure. " It notes that
"After 2 years of operation of incinerator, dioxins levels were found
increased by about 25% in both groups living between 0.5 to 1.5 and 3.5 to 4.0
km away (201 people) of people. In the repeat analysis, the increase was in the
range of 10-15%".
The judgment records
that "Mothers living close to incinerators and crematoria from 1956 to
1993" showed "increased risk of lethal congenital abnormalities, in particular,
spinal bifida and heart defects, near incinerators: increased risk of
stillbirths and anacephalus near crematoria".
With regard to
"Residents from 7 to 64 years old living within 5 km of an incinerator and
the incinerator workers" the judgment observes, "Levels of mercury in
hair increased with closer proximity to the incinerator during a 10 year
period". The judgment recorded that
"Residents living within 10 km of an incinerator, refinery, and waste
disposal site" showed "Significant increase in laryngeal cancer in
men living with closer proximity to the incinerator and other pollution
sources". The *"Residents living around an incinerator and other
pollution sources" showed "Significant increase in lung cancer
related specifically to the incinerator". *The *"People living within
7.5 km of 72 incinerators" displayed "Risks of all cancers and
specifically of stomach, colorectal, liver and lung cancer increased with
closer proximity to incinerators".
The struggle of
residents and environmental groups is far from over. The judgment is quite
relevant for the upcoming hearing in the National Green filed by the resident’s
welfare association (RWA) of Sukhdev Vihar, Okhla against the municipal waste
incineration power plant is being operated by Delhi's Timarpur-Okhla Waste
Management Co Pvt Ltd (TOWMCL) of M/s Jindal Urban Infrastructure Limited
(JUIL), a company of M/s Jindal Saw Group Limited.
ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA)
has been demanding closure of waste incinerators plants because shifting a
polluting unit of factory does not make it non-polluting. Responding to a
letter of TWA Union Environment Minister, Prakash Javadekar has promised to
look into the possibility of Bhopal like disaster due Jindal’s plant in Okhla operating admittedly
in residential areas without any Disaster Management Plan using unapproved and
untested Chinese technology.
Meanwhile, National
Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is pursuing Case No. 8296/30/10/2014 filed by TWA which has been campaigning against this toxic
Dioxins emitting plant since 2005 and is pursuing a case against the toxic
threat from municipal waste incinerator plants in Okhla, Narela-Bawana and
Ghazipur.
Notably, owing to
public health concerns, Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister has visited the hazardous
Dioxins emitting plants in Okhla and Ghazipur. It is high time the government
in the national capital territory revised the tried, tested and failed approach
adopted for waste management.
For
Details: Gopal Krishna, ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA), Mb:
9818089660, 08227816731, E-mail: 1715 krishna@gmail.com, Web:
www.toxicswatch.org