Biomining on, waste only on 7 acres now

Tribune News Service

Sandeep Rana

Chandigarh, September 18

Only 7 acres of land is left to be cleared of garbage at the Dadu Majra dump. Of the total 25 acres of the dumping ground, on which work under Phase II of the project is underway, garbage has been removed from 18 acres since November last year. The Rs 68-crore legacy waste biomining and land recovery project to process 7.67 lakh metric tonne (MT) of garbage kicked off in November.

Earlier, 5 lakh MT of legacy waste lying on 20 acres of the dumping ground was biomined. The entire 45-acre ground will be cleared of the garbage. A new waste processing plant will be established on one part of the ground, while the other part will be developed as a green area.

No fresh garbage to be dumped

The dumping site will be cleared of garbage by January-February next year. Thereafter, no fresh waste will be dumped there. — Anindita Mitra, MC Commissioner

Shishpal Rana, director, Aakanksha Enterprises, the firm which is undertaking the project, said, “About 65 per cent biomining work has been completed. Of 25 acres, garbage is left on only 7 acres. Though, we were given a 43-month deadline to complete the project, we are going to clear it well before that. We will rid the site of garbage by February next year.”

Municipal Corporation Commissioner-cum-Chandigarh Smart City Limited Chief Executive Officer Anindita Mitra said, “The dumping site will be cleared of garbage by January-February next year. Thereafter, no fresh waste will be dumped there.”

The mountain of garbage at the dumping ground has been a big issue during MC as well as Lok Sabha polls.

The ruling BJP leaders said they would make a garbage-free dumping ground a major poll plank during the coming Lok Sabha elections in 2024.

Meanwhile, plans are afoot to set up new waste processing plant on 20 acres at Phase I of the Dadu Majra dump, which was recently reclaimed through bioremediation. Earlier, councillors of AAP and the Congress had demanded shifting the plant to some other place, but it was not entertained. The existing plant is situated across the road in Sector 25.