Muck stops here: Bengaluru’s 5 of 12 waste plants out of action

BENGALURU: More than a decade after biomethanation plants were introduced in Bengaluru to convert domestic waste into biogas, the ambitious decentralised waste-to-energy model is faltering, with nearly half the units now lying defunct and generating little revenue.Of the 12 plants established across the city, five are currently non-functional and in urgent need of repairs. These are located in KR Market, Begur, Mangammanapalya, Kuvempunagar and Varthur wards. While the first four have been earmarked for restoration, the Varthur unit is effectively out of the system after the contractor reportedly removed the machinery over unpaid operation and maintenance dues. Ironically, the upkeep of each plant continues to cost the exchequer about Rs 85,000 per month, even though none, except one operated by NGOs, has been able to monetise the biogas produced. Officials of Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited (BSWML) admit that the plants are too small in scale to be commercially viable.Each biomethanation facility was built at a cost of Rs 80 lakh, with an additional Rs 50 lakh for three years of operations, bringing the cost to Rs 1.3 crore per plant. Now, however, the cost of setting up a new plant has risen sharply to about Rs 2.5 crore. Two such new plants in Koramangala and Kammanahalli have already been constructed but are yet to be commissioned, while locations are being identified for two more.Currently operational plants are located at Aramane Nagar, Gandhinagar, Yediyur, Pattabhiram Nagar, Koramangala and Domlur. Each facility is designed to process up to 50 tonnes of wet waste daily, but officials say the energy output remains modest at just 4-5% of the processed waste.BSWML assistant general manager Santosh Kaddi explained that nearly half of the biogas generated is consumed internally to run the plant itself. "Currently, about 40-50% of biogas generated by a plant is used up in running the plant. This is identified as the captive usage. The rest is used to power streetlights," he said.A bigger challenge lies in the absence of infrastructure to store or transport the gas for wider utilisation. Without storage mechanisms, surplus gas often goes to waste. "In some cases, when the generator is faulty, the gas needs to be flared as surplus gas cannot be stored," Kaddi added.