Saturday, 25 February 2023 | Vinod chamoli | NEW TEHRI
Process underway to secure environmental clearance for plant established by BRIDCUL
The Gangotri Dham is now going to get some relief from the problem of garbage disposal during the Yatra season. The Bridge, Ropeway, Tunnel and Other Infrastructure Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited (BRIDCUL) has established a solid waste management plant under the Pilgrimage Rejuvenation And Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) scheme at Gangotri. The disposal of garbage will be done in this plant with the help of oxygenation plasma state technology. The trial run of the plant has been conducted successfully. Along with this development, the process of obtaining an environmental clearance certificate from the Uttarakhand Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board (UEPPCB) for operation of this plant is in progress.
There is no proper system of garbage disposal in Gangotri Dham in Uttarkashi district, the place where the Bhagirathi river originates. From the time of opening of the portals of Gangotri temple to the closing of its portals to the public, a large number of devotees from across the nation and abroad visit this shrine daily. They leave behind empty plastic bottles, polythene bags, wrappers of food items, clothes and other items as waste. Due to this, one to two quintals of garbage gets accumulated here daily.
As a result, a considerable quantity of garbage is spread in Gangotri which is located at an altitude of 10,299 feet above sea level. Due to the absence of a proper waste disposal system, it is not uncommon for the garbage to end up in the sacred Bhagirathi. To get rid of this problem, a solid waste management plant has been set up in Gangotri Dham by BRIDCUL which is also an executing body under the PRASAD scheme of the Government of India. In this plant, the waste disposal will be done by oxygenation plasma state technology. The flue gases generated in this process are released into the atmosphere after being treated at several stages. It is expected that with the commencement of the plant, Gangotri Dham will get rid of the problem of garbage disposal in the coming Yatra season. BRIDCUL general manager Rajendra Prasad Uniyal told this correspondent that the trial run of the plant has been successful. After processing 400 kilogrammes of garbage, about 13 kilogrammes of ash was obtained, which is about 3.5 percent of the original quantity of waste.
The process of obtaining environmental clearance certificate from UEPPCB for the operation of the plant is in progress, he added.
