Bhubaneswar: In a first of its kind, a demonstrative and knowledge sharing expo on solid waste management’s equipment and machineries in Odisha was held here at SUDA campus, Sunday.
Organised by Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on behalf of Housing and Urban Development Department (H&UD), the expo aimed to bring industry players and urban local bodies (ULBs) on one platform.
Speaking on the occasion Principal Secretary H&UD Department G Mathivathanan said, “The expo, being a first of its kind in the state has provided an interface for the ULBs and the manufacturers and it would help both ways. The national procurement portal Government e-Marketplace (GeM) should also be used by all the ULBs to procure the best suitable machines for them.’’
A senior official stated that the GeM portal in nine months’ time has done a huge business of Rs 38,000 crore across the country and the ULBs can procure better products with best price options.
The innovative exposure session at the premises of State Urban Development Authority was aimed to make all the urban local bodies (ULBs) aware on the methods of processing of wet and dry waste through Micro Composting Centres (MCCs) of 1 to 5 tons per day (TPD) capacity and Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) respectively.
“This is an opportunity for the ULBs to interact directly with the manufacturers of these equipments and reduce the burden of municipal solid waste (MSW) by segregation at source and bio-mining. The expo would also help the ULBs in planning for better environment and greener urban space as the organic manure would be utilised for better growth of trees and plants,’’ Sangramjit Nayak, Director Municipal Administration (DMA) said.
The Expo included 21 organisations displaying organic waste shredders with conveyor belt, compost sieving machine, napkin incinerator, baling unit (for baling of plastic waste up to 20-25 kg bales), battery operated vehicles (tricycle, four-wheeler-Low duty) to negotiate narrow lanes/streets for short distance transportation and segregated of waste etc.
“This expo will help to bridge the gap between the ULBs and the manufacturers/suppliers especially for the smaller ULBs in the interior pockets of the State that hardly get any exposures to select the suitable equipments as per their requirements,” said BMC Commissioner, Prem Chandra Chaudhary.