Telangana govt targets production of 110 MW of power from waste: KTR

HYDERABAD: The Telangana government has set a target to generate 101 MW of power from waste produced in Hyderabad by the end of the next year and 500 tonnes of tiles from construction and demolition waste.

Minister for IT, Industries and MAUD K T Rama Rao, in his keynote address, at the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) on the occasion of World Environment Day on Monday, said that recycling units utilising flowers used in prominent temples had already become operational at Vemulawada, Dharmapuri and Yadadri.

Presenting an elaborate blueprint for “Rethink - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle (RRR)” continuity cycle of urban waste, the minister said that self-help groups of women had embarked on converting waste into money in Telangana. “In all, 206 dry recycling centres (DRC), 87 of them run by women SHG groups, are earning Rs 51 lakh every single month,” he said.

KTR added that the government had set up a total of 1,962 RRR centres in 142 ULBs to collect used products such as used plastic items, old books, clothes and footwear. “Over 200 tonnes of used items are already collected in these RRR Centres from May 20, 2023, till date. These products will be refurbished, reused or remade into new products,” he said.

Phasing out of legacy dumps through bio mining

Stressing the need for creating a better environment for the dwellers of urban areas, the minister said that legacy dumps would be slowly removed through bio-mining. “We are spending Rs 178.60 crore on clearing layers and layers of garbage dumps, accumulated for decades in nine clusters,” he informed.

The government would be spending another Rs 427.30 crore on fecal sludge treatment in 139 ULBs to convert human waste into manure. “The aim is to make Hyderabad 1,001 percent sewerage-free by the end of August 2023. We are setting up 200 MLD (million litres per day) capacity sewerage treatment plants at a cost of Rs 4,000 crore, which will also produce biogas,” KTR said.

Every Saturday to be ‘RRR day’

KTR has directed officials to observe every Saturday as ‘RRR day’ when progress on the reuse and recycling of waste could be discussed at the planning level. “Chief Minister K Chandrasekar Rao has already given his consent to establish a Hyderabad Habitat Centre in Khajaguda, on the lines of the habitat centre in New Delhi”, he added. A Circular Economy Cell will also be established at the HMWSSB head office, headed by one CGM (E) to expedite the implementation of the circular economy, he added.

The minister also launched the ‘Rethink - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle (RRR) Knowledge Hub’, introduced by the government of Telangana in partnership with ASCI and the Environmental Surveillance Laboratory.