Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai   

Country's first eco-friendly power plant coming up at Koyambedu

By Our Staff Reporter

The Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, discussing a point with Jayanthi, Vice-Chairperson, and Sampath, Member-Secretary of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, at a ceremony for laying the foundation for a bio-methanation plant at Koyambedu, Chennai, on Monday. — Photo: V. Ganesan

CHENNAI AUG. 25. The seeds for the country's first `vegetable waste to electricity' biomethanation plant, were sown today when the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, laid the foundation stone for the eco-friendly facility during a brief visit to a contract carriage bus terminus at Koyambedu, here, touted as another first in the country.

The Rs.5-crore plant, which is to come up in the Koyambedu wholesale market complex in a year, is expected to generate 5,000 units a day or 17.2 lakh units annually for supply within the market complex. Thirty tonnes of vegetable waste, which the plant will require everyday, will be sourced from the market itself.

The plant will also generate 7.5-10 tonnes of biofertilizer everyday.

The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, monitoring agency for the Koyambedu complex, expects the market to be self-sufficient in meeting its power requirements once the plant becomes operational. However, it will require about Rs.1.25 lakh a month towards maintenance costs.

While the project is sponsored by the CMDA, the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources and the United Nations Development Programme, the process technology for the plant is handled by Entec, an Austrian firm.

The Union Government sanctioned a grant of Rs. 3.75 crores and the CMDA released Rs.63 lakhs to the Central Leather Research Institute, nodal agency for the project.

The Chief Minister inaugurated the contract carriage bus terminus, constructed at a cost of Rs.3 crores by the CMDA for `omnibuses', which were barred from operating within the city last year.

Spread over five acres across the Koyambedu flower market, the passenger facilities include 14 waiting halls, 120 seating provisions, toilets, urinals and bathrooms.

A key attraction at the terminus was a simulation model of rainwater harvesting in multistorey buildings.

The Chief Minister also launched passenger-friendly low-floor buses, meant especially for the disabled, the elderly, women and children.

The buses will initially operate on Route A18 (cut service) between Tambaram and Broadway and Route 70 between Avadi and Tambaram.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Science & Tech | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Country's first eco-friendly power plant coming up at Koyambedu
• 'Improve facilities at Chennai GH animal lab'
• Girl student commits suicide

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu