Processing of waste: Mohali MC tender draws blank

Tribune News Service

Mohali, April 19

In a blow to a stop-gap plan of the local Municipal Corporation (MC), no private agency has come forward to process waste generated in the town.

In September last year, the MC had floated tenders for setting up a solid waste management plant at Samghauli village with a capacity to process 250-400 metric tonne (MT) of waste per day at a projected cost of Rs 150-200 crore. While the plant is expected to be constructed in two years, the civic body, as a short-term measure, had decided to invite bids from private players to process waste.

Sources said the civic body did not receive any bid for the work.

An official said, “We were expecting many bids, but nobody evinced interest. A revised estimate regarding processing of waste has been sent to the local bodies department for approval.”

MC Commissioner Sandeep Hans said the issue was related to ‘grants’. “Private players in projects like these expect certain grants and there is no provision of such grants with us. We will invite bids again with a hope to get a positive response,” he said.

According to sources, the authorities may also shelve the earlier project of collecting and dumping waste at the Lalru-based garbage processing plant.

At present, the waste generated in Mohali (about 125 MT a day) is dumped at the 13-acre dumping ground in the Industrial Area, Phase VIII. Over 40-50 trolleys pick up waste from secondary points and dump it daily at the landfill where heaps of garbage have become a cause for concern for factories and offices nearby.

In 2015, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had directed the Mohali MC to complete land acquisition process for shift the dumping site.