Kalimpong lines up fuel-free incinerator

VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, 16 Dec 2018, Kalimpong: Kalimpong municipality has decided to set up a fuel-free incinerator, a first of its kind initiative, in the hills to burn the waste collected from across the town.

Ravi Pradhan, chairman of Kalimpong municipality, said the fuel-less incinerator neither requires electricity nor fuel to operate, making it costeffective. "It is a common practice of the hill municipalities to dump garbage on the fragile hills and burn the waste, that is why we have decided to set up the fuel-less incinerator," Pradhan told The Telegraph.

The incinerator is unique as it only needs a combustible material like newspaper to ignite a fire at the beginning. "Once this is done, both wet and dry waste is burnt and fly ash is produced, which is increasingly being used in building construction replacing bricks," said Pradhan.

"We will be procuring an incinerator with a capacity to burn three metric ton at one go. This would cost us around Rs 32 lakh. From every ton of waste, 10kg of fly ash is produced. We would be converting waste to energy," he added.

The civic body has also identified a land near Scottish University Missionary Institution in Kalimpong for the project and had recently sent one of its councillors Sonam Palden to Kozhikode in Kerala for a first-hand experience on the working of this particular incinerator.

Garbage is presently being disposed at Bhalukhop Newar Goan..