Waste processing plant: Chandigarh MC invites probable bidders for pre-RFP consultation meeting

Tribune News Service

Sandeep Rana

Chandigarh, June 10

Moving another step ahead with its solid waste management plans, the Municipal Corporation today invited probable bidders for pre-RFP (request for proposal) consultation meeting for the selection of concessionaire for establishment of a temporary composting plant to process fresh wet waste in Dadu Majra.

To give final touches to the RFP, the meeting will be held on June 15 and the interested bidders will have to send their confirmation for the meeting by June 13.

The development comes a day after the civic body floated the RFP for the selection of concessionaire for setting up of an integrated solid waste processing plant of 550 TPD capacity along with operation and maintenance of the existing three garbage transfer stations (GTS) for 17 years (2 years for plant construction, 15 years for operations and maintenance).

Since it will take two years to build city’s new garbage processing plant, the corporation has planned to set up a temporary composting plant with a capacity to process 200 MT waste per day in the interregnum period. Otherwise, unprocessed waste will end up further piling up at the garbage dumping ground in Dadu Majra. Both agendas were approved in the June 6 House meeting, which saw unruly scenes and suspension of all AAP councillors over the issue of opening it at the Dadu Majra dumping ground.

The plant is going to be opened on 5 acres cleared at the Dadu Majra dumping ground at a cost of Rs 10.53 crore. The MC is operating a wet waste plant at Sector 25 after upgrade and extensions, but can process only up to 200 metric tonne (MT) of waste per day. In contrast, the daily generation of fresh wet waste in the city is 374 MT per day.

Therefore, there will be a quantum of at least 174 MT waste per day, which will otherwise have to be dumped unprocessed across the road at the dumping ground.

As per the MC, the city stares at another legacy waste dump of 2 lakh MT, accumulated over the construction period, and it will be required to be managed and bio-remediated by incurring an expenditure of more than Rs 20 crore. It will also cause pollution and generate leachate, creating hardships for people living in the vicinity.

It has been nearly three years since the MC took over the waste processing plant from Jaypee firm, but could not set up a new one till now. Unprocessed waste continues to be dumped in the dumping ground even as the MC claims to have improved its existing processing quantity to some extent.

Councillors’ meet tomorrow

Chandigarh: Amid protests by opposition leaders over the issue of waste processing plant, Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit has called a meeting of all party councillors on Monday. The meeting will be held in the conference hall of the UT Secretariat. He is expected to listen to the grievances of the elected representatives. City Congress president HS earlier wrote a letter to the Administrator demanding that the agendas passed in the June 6 meeting of the Municipal Corporation be declared illegal, RFP be recalled and a fresh meeting be convened under the supervision of the Administrator and the agenda pertaining to the proposed garbage processing plant be re-discussed in the interest of the city.

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