A 10MW waste-to-energy incineration plant in Sangli, Maharashtra, has reportedly been shut down following protests by villagers over alleged pollution and its impact on health and agriculture.
A joint fact-finding report by environmental and citizens' groups alleged serious failures in pollution control, wastewater treatment and hazardous ash disposal.
The report claimed that the plant's secondary combustion chamber operated at just 230°C, against a stated requirement of 950°C, raising concerns about potentially harmful emissions.
Campaigners also alleged that untreated wastewater entered local streams, pollution-monitoring data was not transmitted to regulators and ash was improperly disposed of at multiple locations.
Citing concerns about waste-to-energy facilities elsewhere in India, the groups have called for a nationwide ban on incineration and a shift towards reducing waste generation.
A waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration plant in Maharashtra’s Sangli district has been shut down following protests by local residents over alleged pollution and its impact on health and agriculture, according to environmental campaigners.
The 10-megawatt Bhumi Green Energy plant faced sustained opposition from villagers, who raised concerns about emissions, waste disposal and the contamination of nearby water sources. The closure followed a joint fact-finding exercise by grassroots environmental justice group Paryavaran Rakshan Samiti Sangli; the National Alliance for Climate and Ecological Justice, a forum of the National Alliance of People's Movements; and the non-profit Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA).
The groups alleged widespread failures to comply with environmental and operational requirements at the plant and called for a nationwide ban on waste-to-energy incineration.
The closure orders were issued September 23, 2026, by the sub-divisional officer and sub-divisional magistrate, Miraj sub-division, Sangli district.
The groups’ fact-finding report alleged several breaches of the plant's pollution-control requirements, including inadequate combustion temperatures, failures in wastewater treatment and improper disposal of ash, who called it “catastrophic non-compliance” at the WTE.
According to the report, the plant’s secondary combustion chamber was operating at 230 degrees Celsius, against a stated requirement of at least 950°C under the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. The groups warned that operating at lower temperatures could result in incomplete combustion and the release of pollutants, including soot, acid gases, dioxins and furans.
The plant’s effluent treatment plant (ETP) was not operating, despite a requirement for continuous 24x7 treatment and zero liquid discharge, the campaigners stated. Untreated leachate was reportedly stored in unlined pits, with wastewater overflowing into local streams that feed the Warana River, the report said.
The investigation further alleged that air pollution control equipment, including electrostatic precipitators and wet scrubbers, was not functioning. Heavy black smoke was reportedly escaping from furnace vents and boiler sections.
The groups also questioned the plant's pollution-monitoring arrangements. They alleged that data from its online continuous emissions monitoring system (OCEMS) was not being transmitted to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) or the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB).
The report also raised concerns about the disposal of ash produced by the incinerator. According to the groups, fly ash was left uncovered rather than being disposed of in secured facilities. Bottom ash was handed over to private entities and used to fill low-lying land at at least 25 locations, the campaigners said.
The investigation also questioned the plant's electricity generation performance. The facility had an installed capacity of 10 MW, which the report said was equivalent to approximately 7.2 million units of electricity a month at full-capacity generation. However, its average monthly generation was reported to be 2.38 million units, or about 33 per cent of that figure.
The groups questioned the plant's performance in view of the public subsidies it had received.
The organisations argued that the problems identified at Sangli reflected wider concerns about India’s reliance on waste-to-energy incineration. They cited plants in Okhla and Bawana in Delhi, Jawaharnagar in Hyderabad, Bidadi near Bengaluru and Kodungaiyur in Chennai as examples of facilities that have faced concerns over operations, emissions or finances.
However, the supplied material did not provide specific findings or regulatory records for those facilities. The groups said Indian municipal waste was often unsuitable for large-scale incineration because it was insufficiently segregated and contained high levels of moisture.
They cited research by the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research's National Environmental Engineering Research Institute in support of their concerns.
According to the campaigners, because waste in India is largely unsegregated at the source, the high moisture content and low calorific value prevent complete combustion. They argued that this could encourage plants to operate at inadequate temperatures, increasing the risk of highly toxic, carcinogenic emissions.
The organisations called for government subsidies and waste-management policies to move away from capital-intensive incineration projects.
Instead, they urged policymakers to shift national policies and public subsidies away from capital-intensive, toxic incinerators. The focus should however move beyond looking at waste as a “management” issue and instead address it as a “production” issue that addresses the root causes of the problem, they said.