Despite tall claims by Chandigarh MC, city waste remains unprocessed

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 6

Despite tall claims made by the Municipal Corporation on waste management, the fact remains that a nominal amount of the city garbage is getting processed at the Sector 25 plant.

The remaining unprocessed waste continues to be thrown at the dumping ground across the road in Dadu Majra.

The city produces about 450 metric tonnes of waste daily, and as per an IIT-Roorkee inspection report, the plant has a capacity to process only 60-65 metric tonnes of garbage a day. Residents claim not even this much amount is processed.

Two months after the MC took over the plant from the Jaypee Group, the IIT-Roorkee report had stated that all the machines at the plant had already passed their age and recommended setting up a modern 500 tonnes per day plant for dry and wet waste treatment.

However, the civic body continues to work with the worn out machines, which has only led to an increase in the mountain of garbage at the dumping site, causing huge trouble to the residents.

“It is a health hazard. Even while eating, we get the stench. We are mentally disturbed due to the constant smell. It is more dangerous than Covid. One can still get cured of Covid with medicines, but there is no solution to the waste dumping ground,” said Harjinder Singh, chairman, Resident Welfare Association, Dadu Majra.

“Fire incidents are a norm here and they generate poisonous gases. During fire, and even due to wind, the areas up to Sector 22 get the stench. It is a challenge for commuters to cross the road near the dumping site,” added another resident.

Leader of the Opposition Devinder Singh Babla said, “The BJP-led MC has failed to finalise the technology, which has resulted in problems for people. It should not be delayed further as the pile of garbage is only rising.”

Mayor Ravi Kant Sharma said, “The plant was set up by the Congress and its processing remained a problem since beginning. Now, we are taking time only to give the best plant to the city.”

(Concluded)

Garbage blues

• The city generates about 450 metric tonnes of waste a day. However, the processing capacity of the plant is about 60-65 metric tonnes a day.
• The IIT-Roorkee had recommended setting up a modern waste plant that processes 500 metric tonnes of waste each day.
• The Municipal Corporation had took over the plant from the Jayppe Group in June 2020. It is yet to finalise the processing technology.
• While the authorities had claimed that the waste from the dumping ground would be cleared by the end of 2021, it later turned out that only half of the garbage will be cleared.
• The work related to biomining of waste, which was allotted to a private firm for Rs33 crore, was only for half of the total garbage (5 lakh metric tonnes) lying at the ground.