HC relief for Haldwani residents after civic body submits STP plan

The Haldwani municipal corporation has submitted a plan to the Uttarakhand high court for the construction of a new sewage treatment plant (STP) in the town following the court last week banned the disposal of city garbage at the old dumping ground in Golapar area.

The Indira Nagar Jan Vikas Samiti had complained to the court against the dumping ground citing that the stench emanating from it was giving them a hard time and causing pollution in the area.

The court has now allowed the disposal of city garbage at the same dumping ground provided the civic body will construct a wall around it and set up a new STP within six months.

Informing about the high court’s decision, Haldwani municipal commissioner Chandra Singh Martoliya said that the corporation had given a proposal to the court seeking nine-month time for constructing the new STP, but the court has granted six -month time to accomplish the task.

According to Martoliya, the corporation in its plan stated that after the land transfer by the forest department, it would have to float a request for proposals (RFP) for the STP, which has to be approved by the government. Since the earlier detailed project report (DPR) did not include the disposal of garbage from Bhowali and Nainital towns, there was also a need to change the DPR to include the towns in it.

Besides, the DPR had been prepared for 25 wards of the municipal corporation, while the numbers of wards have increased to 60 after the extension of boundary. The tender process would also take around one-and-a-half-month time.

The construction work of STP will begin after all the processes are cleared, said Martoliya.

Meanwhile, acting on the high court order, the forest department has already provided four-hectare alternative land to the municipal corporation. The transfer of land had been pending for the last six years.

There is also relief for the Haldwani residents, as the civic body has started lifting the piled up garbage.