The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is taking back 180 acres in Dhapa from farmers who had been tilling the land, owned by the civic body, for decades as it wants to build waste-processing facilities on it.
There is a wide gap between the volume of waste generated in the city every day and the portion that is processed or recycled. The piece of land that will be taken back from farmers will be used to bridge the gap, civic officials said.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had last year asked the state government to keep Rs 3,500 crore in an account and spend it only on waste (both solid and liquid) treatment after it found the state lacking in environment protection measures.
The KMC has prepared a list of farmers and those involved in fisheries who are using the land. They will be offered a solatium of Rs 50,000 per cottah.
On Monday, the list was put up at the Dhapa waste management office and in the KMC’s Borough VII office near Mullickbazar.
The survey to identify the beneficiaries was done over the past several months.
Sandipan Saha, councillor of Ward 58, which covers the areas that will be reclaimed, said the survey identified 829 farmers who will be offered the solatium.
“We conducted a survey to identify all the farmers and fishermen who could be affected. There are ponds used for fishing, too. The list has been published so people can raise objections or make claims. Those who are using the
land should immediately contact the KMC if they don’t see their names on the list,” Saha said.
An official said around Rs 54 crore would be required to pay the solatium to all land users.
Debabrata Majumdar, the mayoral council member who heads the KMC’s solid waste management department, said a 15-day window has been given to make claims and raise objections.
“This land belongs to the KMC. We are offering a solatium since these people have been farming on the land for years,” said Majumdar.
He, however, did not want to set a deadline by when the KMC would reclaim the 180 acres.
Sources in the KMC said the civic body plans to set up three plants on the plot to process solid waste and generate electricity, manure and fuel out of it.
About 4,000 tonnes of solid waste are generated in the city every day but only 525 tonnes are processed.
The 4,000-odd tonnes do not include construction and demolition waste. A 500-tonne-per-day processing plant for construction and demolition waste has been set up in New Town by the KMC.
According to Solid Waste Management Rules 2016, the civic body should dump only inert waste like dust and silt in a waste dumping ground or landfill site, said a KMC official. Inert waste is waste that has no value in the recycling chain.
“We have plans to set up a bio-CNG plant on the Dhapa plot that will process 500 tonnes of waste per day. We have a 5-tonne-per-day bio-CNG plant running now in Dhapa,” said an official.
The bio-CNG plant will use “wet waste” — mainly kitchen waste and other food waste — to produce CNG (compressed natural gas, an environment-friendly fuel),” said an official.
Also on the cards is a 500-tonne-per-day compost plant. “This plant, too, will use wet waste and convert it into manure,” the official said.
A third plant that will come on the plot will use dry waste such as paper, plastic, leather and jute to produce electricity. “We will use
items that are combustible, but not recyclable, to produce electricity. The plan is to put the electricity in
the grid,” said the official. “This will be a 1,000-tonnes-a-day capacity plant,” said the official.