Chandigarh: Two fresh bids revive hope for new waste processing plant

Sandeep Rana

Chandigarh, April 4

After two failed attempts to find an agency to set up and operate city’s integrated waste processing plant in Dadu Majra, hopes have again rekindled for the project with two firms showing interest in it.

Hindustan Waste Treatment Pvt Limited, Thane, Maharashtra, and Enviro Control Pvt Ltd, Surat, have filed bids for the project. Now, technical evaluation of the two firms will be done on the basis of which the fate of the plant under the current tendering will be decided.

Earlier, three firms had twice filed bids for the project, but on both occasions, the local municipal corporation did not find them eligible during the financial and technical bids process.

The setting up of the new plant has been long-delayed. About an year has passed since the request for proposal (RFP) was floated, but no agency could be allotted the work so far. The selected firm will establish an integrated waste processing plant of 550 tonnes per day capacity on a 15-acre site in Dadu Majra in two years’ time.

The plant is to be constructed on a design, finance, own, operate and transfer basis. As per the technology recommended by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), wet waste is to be processed to produce bio-CNG and dry waste to produce RDF, which will be supplied to cement plants as fuel.

It was in June 2020 that the MC had taken over the waste plant from Jaypee Group over non-processing of garbage by the agency leading to dumping site, but could not establish its own permanent plant till now. However, it claims to be presently processing 100% dry and wet waste through temporary facilities. Realising that even after allotment of tender, it will take about two years to set up the plant, the MC had recently opened a compost plant in Dadu Majra so that fresh waste is not thrown at the dumping ground till then.