Waste-to-energy plants are a disaster for the environment but India is building more
· Scroll
When Rajpal Saini retired from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, he didn’t really plan to spend his golden years battling his former employer. But a waste incineration plant commissioned near his village, by the corporation, has made his life arduous.
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“We have the entire waste processing mall of Delhi here – a khatta [dumping ground], a hazardous waste disposal site, a composting plant, and a 28 megawatt (MW) waste-to-energy plant. And as if all this were not enough, now they have imposed another one [WTE plant] on us,” said Saini, a resident of Sannoth, a village near Bawana at the northwestern edge of Delhi.
“The world recognises the value of yoga and breathing in fresh air. But forget about the outdoors; we even have to seal the holes in our doors to avoid the stench. My uncle, who regularly did pranayam [breathing exercises], has been paralysed and bedridden for six years now,” Saini said, whose car is full of posters advocating for the “right to breathe”.
The construction of the new 3,000 tonnes-per-day (TPD), 30-megawatt WTE plant began in May despite a case before the National Green Tribunal and residents’ protests since December 2024. Situated right next to Munak canal, a significant source of drinking water for Delhi,...