Where does `success` come before `work`? Or does it? Yes it does, but only in one place, that is in a dictionary!

What about `hard work`? It comes both before and after success. Let us look at some of our global incinerator installations to see how hard our commissioning team had to work to install and commission the equipment and train the local operators. This is after a lot of hard work was done by the project and production teams initially to secure the contract and thereafter to manufacture and test the same.

It is not often that we are asked to commission our incinerator in a comfortable and easily accessible location, within the country or outside, where everything is available. In fact it is rare.  Somehow we seem to have developed the knack of getting jobs at difficult locations to do our routine work. No doubt, such locations do require a Haat incinerator either to get rid of general garbage or infectious waste or something hazardous because of the prevailing conditions.

We have always stood by our commitment to our customers in not only delivering the type of incinerator that they want, but in time, and also sending our commissioning team to complete the work and train local operators, however hard or inaccessible the site may be.

Let`s look at some of these locations:

Yemen: We supplied two Incinerators to oil fields in Nabrajah and Tasour. These sites are deserts, right in the middle of volcanic mountains with practically no dwelling place, not even a hospital, the only living souls being the oil field staff.  The commissioning work had to be done while there was a war going on. Accommodation was in a 20 ft container. The commissioning team had to stay there for 3 weeks to complete the job, while small arms fire could be heard continuously.

Afghanistan: 3 incinerators for biomedical waste in three different locations within Afghanistan. In addition 4 large incinerators were commissioned for disposing of food waste and garbage at Camp Bastion (a British Army base). The 3 machines were sent by road from Bangalore to Amritsar and airlifted from Amritsar to Kandahar. The 4 machines were airlifted from Bangalore to Camp Bastion in a specially chartered flight to the British camp directly because of the urgency of the requirement.

In the first case, our engineer had to travel to the three locations starting from Jalalabad (which was a good 5 hour journey by road from Kandahar) when the war with Taliban was going on, but the locals were very helpful with regard to his safety, travel and food (which required our meat eating Afghan hosts to go out of their way as our guy was a staunch vegetarian). The engineer could speak reasonably good Hindi/Urdu and that helped him considerably. Confidence created by practical training, led to the local engineers commissioning the other two incinerators themselves.

Regarding Camp Bastion, our engineer had to travel to Dubai from where a military plane took him to Camp Bastion. He was subjected to security check and health check before entering the camp. He was also trained in how to protect himself in the event of firing, bomb blasts, etc. He was given a bullet proof vest to wear from the airport to the camp.  As the vehicle moved slowly, he could hear small arms fire and he had to hold his breath and nerve till the job was completed. It took a week to complete this work.  He left the site after commissioning the 4 incinerators on 14 Aug 2012.  Exactly one month later, there was a Taliban raid on Camp Bastion on 14 Sep 2012 in which 2 US Marines were killed and several aircraft were damaged.  The Taliban conducted the raid as Prince Harry was stationed at Camp Bastion at the time (more info on this here).  Indeed a close call for our engineer! 

Myanmar: It was at an oil and gas drilling site. A civil war broke out in the country and yet we had to do our job. The commissioning of the incinerator was done amidst cross firing between different groups.

Iran: We had to commission a large incinerator supplied to the National Iranian Oil Company under a scorching 50°C+ temperature, living in 20 foot containers, surviving on unaccustomed Persian food for 100 days. The vegetarians were once again in trouble with only packaged ‘naans’ and cheese being available.  The location was just 5 km from Iraqi border and commissioning was done while land mines were still being removed on the Iraq side. Finally the job was done and the incinerator was handed over to NIOCL.  The first thing one of our guys did when he landed in Dubai airport en route home was to rush to the food court and order a spicy ‘masala dosa’.

India – Himachal Pradesh: A Govt hospital bought a Haat incinerator for medical waste in a remote location near the Tibet border way back in 2002. Installation and commissioning was done at – 5 deg.C. The incinerator was still in operation when we last heard from them in 2017.

India – Car Nicobar: This is a protected tribal area and it is difficult to reach the island. The only mode of travel is thru a military helicopter or ship (2 days). Our team spent nearly 45 days installing and commissioning 2 incinerator systems with air pollution control equipment. They were advised to stick to their accommodation and the site and not to venture into the tribal area because of the dangers involved. To add to the discomfort, there was a cyclone and the entire site was flooded. When the rains stopped, all the water had to be pumped out before continuing with the work. Eventually it was done.

India – North-West: Because of high altitude and very low temperature, no work could be carried out until the commissioning team took forced rest for 48 hours to acclimatize themselves. There was no power after 6 pm due to security restrictions. Total time spent was 25 days for commissioning two incinerators.

These are but a few of our unforgettable experiences all around the world - installing, commissioning Haat incinerators and training local staff. Although difficult, it was worth all the hard work, because it meant Haat had contributed to waste management in an environmentally safe manner by clean, low cost incineration, burning all the waste, leaving only satisfied customers behind.