Hazardous Waste Management in Punjab

Nimbua Site Office

Nimbua Greenfield (P) Ltd., a special purpose vehicle has been promoted by a group of industries in Punjab, in co-ordination with Punjab Pollution Control Board and Govt. of India, and was incorporated on 01.03.04 for developing a hazardous waste management facility to collect, treat and dispose off hazardous waste generated by various industries in Punjab.hazardous waste from all over the punjab including chandigarh is accepted here, hazardous waste after stabilization deposited into landfill 

 

Nimbua Admin office

The site shares its eastern boundary with State of Haryana and it surrounded by agriculture fields. The site is 4 Km north of the village Nimbua.

The site shares its eastern boundary with State of Haryana and is surrounded by agriculture fields.

 

Project has been approved by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Govt. of India, under Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme (IIUS) at a cost of Rs. 17.19 crores, with a Govt. of India grant of Rs. 12.69 crores.

Hazardous waste treatment storage &
 disposal facility

The site for the propose HWTS facility is situated north of village Nimbua and accessible through an all-weather single lane link road of about 6 km. length, connected with Dera Bassi Barwala Road at about 4 km from Derabassi, a small town located on National Highway No. -22. Derabassi town is approximately 25 km south of the Chandigarh (UT and Capital of state of Punjab) and is well connected through road network to all major districts of Punjab.

The nearest water body from the site is Medhkhali Nala, approximately 1.5 km north of the site. It is a seasonal stream that forms a tributary of river Ghajjar, a perennial river. A non-perennial river known as “Dangri Nadi”, lies 5 km east of the site and flows through state of Haryana, before terminating in agriculture fields in district of Ambala (Haryana).  

Nimbua admin side look

The main features of the proposed site are as follows

• Latitude and longitude – 75 o53’45” and 30 o33’30”
• State government has notified the 22-acre proposed site for waste disposal facility.
• Irregular terrain, with relatively flat parcel of 6-acre land on North of the site.
• Seasonal storm water drain, Medhkhali Nala, flows 1.5 km north of the site.
• Non – perennial river, Dangri Nadi is located 5 km east of the site.

ven sites were identified for the development of Common Treatment Storage & Disposal facility (TSDF) for hazardous waste. Environmental Impact Assessment Study of these sites was got conducted by the Punjab Pollution Control Board.

 The Methodology adopted for conducting the EIA studies for arriving at the suitability of the sites comprised of: 

• Inventorisation of Industries.
• Quantification & Characterization of hazardous waste.
• Scope of their reuse, recycling and treatment options.
• Transportation of Hazardous Waste.
• Baseline Environmental data collection and analysis.
• Ranking of sites as per the guidelines of MOEF
• Design and cost estimation of Hazardous Waste Treatment and Disposal Facilities.

Landfill

Based on finding and predictions presented in the EIA study reports, it was concluded by the consultants that Patiala & Faridkot sites pose low risk (as compared to other sites in the respective group of districts) to the environment for siting a hazardous waste disposal site. It was suggested by the consultant that a common disposal site would be more economical than individual sites. In the end, Project site at Village Nimbua, Tehsil Dera-Bassi, District Patiala, was selected and the site accordingly had been notified by the State Bank for creating the Hazardous waste treatment and disposal facility.

Nimbua Admin building side

NGPL carried out exclusive awareness programs in the area, including a public hearing and also made arrangement for visits of some village elders to the existing HWMF sites in the country namely Bharuch Enviro Infrastructure Ltd. at Ankleshwer and Gujrat Enviro Protection and Infrastructure Ltd. Surat, to dispel the apprehensions of the inhabitants of he area. NGPL has also decided to spend about one percent of the total cost of the project for development activities in the area and assured employment opportunities to the local persons.