Manali MC to terminate contract of waste treatment company
Abhinav Vashisht
Kullu, July 10
The Manali Municipal Committee (MC) has initiated proceedings to terminate the contract of Nextgen Chemicals Company that has been operating a waste treatment plant at Rangri. The MC has given an ultimatum to the contractor following various irregularities and default in payment of shipping charges for the treated garbage.
MC president Chaman Kapoor said the contractor had failed to instal machines to generate energy from waste, as per the 2017 agreement. He said technical modalities were being worked out to terminate the contract.
Meanwhile, the civic body has also directed the company not to accept garbage from other areas from July 15, stating that the site has reached its capacity and there is a possibility of garbage flowing into the Beas.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had imposed a penalty of Rs 4.6 crore on the Manali MC on May 29 for polluting the Beas through leachate discharge of untreated waste from the facility at Rangri.
At present, waste from many areas of Kullu and Lahaul was being sent to the Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) plant at Manali by paying Re 1 per kg to the Manali MC, as many urban, semi-urban and rural areas do not have adequate waste management infrastructure.
The Manali MC officials have not disclosed the income earned by accepting the waste from other areas.
While MC had blamed the company for mismanagement, the company representatives claimed that non-segregated waste that could not be converted into energy was being received at the facility. They added that the volume of waste had also increased manifolds.
Meanwhile, the problems of civic bodies of Kullu, Bhuntar, Kasol, Manikaran and Banjar have compounded as they don’t have adequate dumping or waste management sites. Residents of Kullu yesterday met Deputy Commissioner Torul S Raveesh and appealed her to not allow dumping of garbage in the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) site located in Nehru Park in Sarwari area of the town. They apprehended that the Kullu MC might accumulate garbage at MRF site.
Mandi MP Kangana Ranaut also met the DC and held a discussion regarding the waste management.
