March 2023 new deadline for Dadu Majra dumping ground clearance

Sandeep Rana

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Chandigarh, February 6

The wait for clearance of one part of the Dadu Majra dumping ground has got longer.

The new deadline for the biomining work has been extended to March 2023. “We have set a March 2023 deadline for the company carrying out the work, but we are hopeful the work will be completed in November,” said a senior official of Chandigarh Smart City Limited.

The Rs33-crore legacy waste mining project was inaugurated in December 2019 by the then Punjab Governor and UT Administrator, VP Singh Badnore, with an 18-month deadline, but so far, only around 60 per cent of the work has been done.

‘Work may be completed in November’

We have set a March 2023 deadline for the company carrying out the work, but we are hopeful that the work will be completed in November. —Official, Chandigarh Smart City Ltd

Under the project, the entire 5 lakh metric tonne of waste lying on 25 acres for over 20 years (before 2005) was to be bio-mined, but so far, only 2.90 lakh metric tonne of garbage has been biomined.

Citing reasons for the dealy, officials said during the monsoon, the work largely remained stopped as the waste became too moist to be removed. In winter too, the pace of work slows down.

“They should have held the company responsible for the delay. Now that the elections are over, it seems nobody is going to take the matter seriously. The rising mountain of garbage is a huge problem for local residents,” said Harjinder Singh, chairman, Residents Welfare Association, Dadu Majra.

Chandigarh generates about 550 metric tonne of garbage per day, but the waste processing plant in Sector 25 is able to process only about 70 MT waste per day. The remaining garbage is thrown across the road in the Dadu Majra dumping ground.

Meanwhile, the MC has started making efforts to remove the remaining 4.5 lakh MT of waste dumped after 2005 at the Dadu Majra ground. The MC House, at its last meeting, approved to seek Rs77 crore from the Centre under the Swachh Bharat Mission to clear the remaining dump.