Delhi: Breathing kills! Residents staying close to waste-to-energy plant rue proposed expansion

NEW DELHI: They have struggled long against the waste-to-energy plant in the vicinity of their homes, fearful of its effect on their health and the harmful impact on the air they breathe. But with the plant seeking to enhance operations, the people living in residential areas as close as 50 metres from the plant see this as a “death warrant”.
Residents of Sukhdev Vihar and Haji Colony, located close to the Okhla waste-to-energy (WTE) plant, had requested the lieutenant governor’s intervention in the long demanded closure of the facility, but ahead of the public hearing on the draft environmental impact assessment (EIA), the residents learnt that the LG visited the plant in June and asked that it use an additional 1,200 tonne of municipal solid waste daily to generate power.
Since 2012, the plant has been producing around 20MW and now aims to generate 40MW by installing new boilers. The local residents and activists have claimed that the WTE plant already violates several norms, located as it is so near residential areas and a hospital and not at the landfill site itself.
They also point out that the draft EIA submitted to Delhi Pollution Control Committee in July, prepared by a third party consultant for the plant, misses out on key information. The residents said that the draft EIA has failed to quantify the highly toxic dioxins and furans being emitted by the plant, for which DPCC had fined the plant Rs 5 lakh in 2021.
“Several residents are suffering from illnesses. Some neighbours have even died. Children falling sick is common now. But who believes us and how will we prove the cause is the plant?” asked Shukrullah Khan, general secretary, Sukhdev Vihar DDA Colony. “Now, the LG wants to double its generation capacity. This is a death warrant for us.”
According to Dr Neeta Misra, a gynaecologist who lives and practises in the area, many people have complaints related to breathing and skin problems. She often advises pregnant patients to shift to relatives’ houses. “Our houses stink when the wind blows. Thick black smoke from the plant makes breathing difficult and leaves traces on the clothes drying outside,” said Misra. “Locals regularly suffer allergies, asthma, skin problems.”
A Sukhdev Vihar resident recently diagnosed with a rare disease held toxins from the plant responsible for this. “Yes, AIIMS diagnosed my problems as polycythaemia, a blood condition, and my doctor said exposure to hazardous gases could have caused it,” said the man.
Activist Bhavreen Kandhari was incensed. “How can this power plant be justified and even expanded when the matter is sub judice? (There is a case under way in the Supreme Court). It was supposed to be sited 500 metres from where it is,” she bristled. “The law is that you must locate the plant at the landfill, not between residential areas. They are now bringing waste from Okhla landfill 8km away.” The municipal corporation admitted that around 400 tonne of waste is brought from the Okhla landfill to the plant every day.