Lucknow Declared State’s First Zero Dump City

02 Jul 2025 CW Team

Lucknow has become Uttar Pradesh’s first officially certified “Zero Dump City” after all three processing lines at the Shivri solid waste treatment plant achieved full operation. The facility now handles the city’s entire daily load of roughly 2 100 metric tonnes, and has already removed two thirds of the vast legacy mound that once blighted the site.

Shivri began life in 2012 but stalled under two successive contractors, allowing a waste mountain to accumulate. A Chinese operator appointed in 2017 also failed to deliver, incurring penalties of about Rs 400 million.

Renewed momentum arrived in 2023 when the Lucknow Municipal Corporation, under the Swachh Bharat Mission, launched a Rs 960 million remediation project. Pune based Bhumi Green Energy took charge in January 2024, introducing microbial cultures to suppress odour and leachate, followed by air drying to speed processing. Each of the plant’s three units now handles 700 metric tonnes per day.

Sorted output is channelled into four streams:

fine soil for horticulture and farming;
refuse derived fuel from plastics and paper for cement kilns and paper mills;
coarse aggregate for land reclamation;
construction debris repurposed in local infrastructure schemes.

Coconut husks and certain plastics are fashioned into ropes, mats and coco peat. Performance is audited by IIT Roorkee and VJTI Mumbai, and the project is slated to add electricity generation once sufficient feedstock is secured.

Infrastructure Urban

27 Oct 2025

Coal Ministry Achieves Milestones under Special Campaign 5.0

The Ministry of Coal and its Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) have achieved notable milestones under the Special Campaign 5.0, focusing on cleanliness, operational efficiency, and sustainability across the coal sector. During the implementation phase from 2–31 October 2025, over 1,205 sites were cleaned, covering 68,04,087 sq ft, nearing the target of 82,51,511 sq ft. Scrap disposal of 5,813 MT against a target of 8,678 MT generated Rs 228.7 million in revenue. In addition, 1,11,248 physical and 30,331 electronic files were reviewed, with 74,123 weeded out or closed. Key initiatives showc..

Vesting Orders Issued for Three Coal Blocks under Commercial Auctions

The Ministry of Coal’s Nominated Authority has issued vesting orders for three coal blocks under commercial coal block auctions on 23 October 2025. The Coal Mine Development and Production Agreements (CMDPAs) for these mines were earlier signed on 21 August 2025. The three blocks include Rajgamar Dipside (Deavnara), Tangardihi North, and Mahuagarhi. Of these, two are partially explored while one is fully explored, with a combined peak rated capacity of around 1 MTPA and geological reserves of approximately 1,484.41 million tonnes. These mines are expected to generate annual revenue of abou..

TEC, IIT-Hyderabad Partner to Boost 6G and Telecom Standards

The Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC), technical arm of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IIT Hyderabad) for joint research and technical collaboration in advanced telecom technologies and standardisation. The partnership focuses on developing India-specific standards and test frameworks for next-generation networks, including 6G, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs). It also aims to enhance India’s participation in international standardisation f..