Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's sludge-to-fertilizer plant ready

After a delay of nearly two years, Ahmedabad civic body on Saturday will open a sludge hygienisation plant to its people. The fully-automatic plant will hygienise 100-ton dry sludge every day. Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), in 2015, had inked an MoU to set up Cobalt-60 Gamma Irradiation Plant.

The hygienised sludge inoculated with useful bacteria will provide a value-added bio-fertilizer.

The civic body is going to sell the fertilizer with a brand name 'Bio-Gold'. When the MoU was inked, it was decided that the product will be marketed by the Gujarat Agro Industries Corporations (GAIC). Radiation source for the sludge treatment is going to be provided by the Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (BRIT).

BARC had earlier designed the sludge hygienisation plant that is currently being used by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation. It is using it for over the last 20 years. Operation of AMC's new plant has been initiated in January 2019. Till date, the civic body used to dump around 30 to 40 tonnes sludge daily.

The municipal sludge contains heavy quantities of infectious microorganism which are hazardous to public health. After the hygienisation process, the sludge is expected to maintained and added to the nutritious elements like nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, zinc etc. The product will also be a help for crop production.

"The entire process of setting up the plant has been accomplished scientifically. The construction of the unit lasted for a one-and-a-half year. Initially, there were issues with deciding the location of the plant. Hence, there was a delay," said a senior AMC official.

"As the plant is dealing with the radioactive rays, it is fully automated. Last year when the construction of the plan was completed a final safety analysis reported was submitted to Atomic Energy Regulatory Board," added the officer.

Nothing Goes Waste

• AMC is going to sell the fertilizer with a brand name ‘Bio-Gold’. When the MoU was inked, it was decided that the product will be marketed by the GAIC. 
• Radiation source for the sludge treatment is going to be provided by the Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (BRIT).