Latest news with #SushmaKharakwal
Time of India
10 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
WtE plant to process refuse derived fuel, produce power
Lucknow: A waste-to-energy (WtE) plant will be set up at Shivri by the Lucknow Municipal Corporation soon. The plant will process refuse derived fuel (RDF) made from non-recyclable plastics, paper, cardboard and other combustible inorganic materials collected from the city and nearby municipalities and nagar panchayats. By processing RDF locally, the project is expected to cut down significantly high logistic cost of transporting waste to cement factories about 500 km away. The plant is part of city's plan to set up a 15 MW RDF-to-electricity unit aimed at managing waste and generating power from it. It will use 1,000–1,200 metric tonnes of RDF produced daily in Lucknow, which is transported to other locations. The project, estimated to cost Rs 450 crore, will be developed under a public-private partnership (PPP) model using the Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) structure. Funding will be divided among the private partner (50%), the state or urban local body (25%), and the central govt (25%), with Viability Gap Funding (VGF) proposed. Additional municipal commissioner Arvind Rao said the plant will handle waste and produce electricity. Mayor Sushma Kharakwal said the project aligned with goals related to waste and energy in urban and rural regions. "The plant is expected to be completed in over two years on 20–25 acres of land and will need 3 million litres water per day. It will create jobs, produce revenue through power sales and support carbon credit activities," she said. The facility will run on RDF with systems like stoker grate or fluidized bed boilers, high-pressure boilers, and turbines. Electricity produced will be sold to state's power utility under power purchase agreement. The plant has bag filters, scrubbers, and monitoring equipment for emission control to meet norms of Central and UP Pollution Control Boards. Residual ash may be reused in construction and cement-related work.
Hindustan Times
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
A day after green event, LMC red-faced
Half a dozen of the saplings planted by urban development minister AK Sharma and other officials at Laxman Mela Ground disappeared on Friday, just a day after the plantation drive, raising serious questions over the Lucknow Municipal Corporation's (LMC) planning and execution. The plantation was part of a major event on World Environment Day, Ganga Dussehra, and the birthday of chief minister Yogi Adityanath, on Thursday. Officials had planted over 30 saplings at the site. Of the 10 saplings planted in a row -- each protected by tree guards -- by minister Sharma, mayor Sushma Kharakwal and municipal commissioner Gaurav Kumar, only four remained by Friday morning. A ground report by HT on Friday morning revealed six empty pits, while the saplings were missing. However, LMC claimed that the plants were 'shifted' to another location as a large number of people visit Laxman Mela Ground during festivals. Despite the presence of top officials and the appointment of additional municipal commissioner Arun Kumar Gupta as nodal officer, LMC failed to identify a suitable location for the plantation drive. Officials acknowledged that the site is actually used for idol immersion during major festivals, and the area turned into a dumping ground just hours after the Thursday event. However, soon after the issue came to light, the LMC staff started planting the saplings again in what appeared to be a damage control effort. Criticising LMC's 'casual approach', environmentalists said inability to safeguard saplings planted in the presence of a minister would dent the credibility of regular plantation drives. Prabhunath Rai, president of Bhojpuri Samaj, claimed the saplings were removed by LMC officials themselves after realising that the site was wrongly selected. 'This is pure negligence,' Rai said. Mayor Sushma Kharakwal directed additional municipal corporation Arun Kumar Gupta to prepare and submit a detailed report. Meanwhile, LMC claimed to have planted over 1,000 saplings across the city as part of the same initiative, including those of rudraksha, banyan, amla, and kaner. The campaign also featured activities under 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' and 'Plogging for Plastic' campaigns. A human chain was also formed for environment conservation at the Gomti riverfront.
