Tenders have finally been invited for clearing the mounds of legacy waste piling up at the Mysuru City Corporation’s (MCC) waste treatment plant at Vidyaranyapuram through biomining.
The piling up had become a thorn in the flesh of the authorities, who were at the receiving end of the complaints by residents of adjoining localities over the foul smell as well as the threat posed to their health from the rising mounds of garbage in their neighbourhood.
MCC Health Health officer D.G. Nagaraju told The Hindu that bids had been invited for biomining the legacy waste, which is estimated to be more than 2 lakh tonnes. The last date for submitting bids is April 5 and the estimated cost of the work is ₹4.6 crore as per the tender details.
Though the proposal to biomine the legacy waste had been approved by the government following a visit more than a year ago by a team of people’s representatives and officials from Mysuru to Nagpur, where a similiar exercise had been undertaken, former Minister and area MLA S.A. Ramdas had sought changes in the project that included shifting the waste treatment plant out of Vidyaranyapuram.
However, sources in the MCC pointed out that MCC and Mysuru district administration had given a commitment to the National Green Tribubal (NGT) that the legacy waste will be cleared by 2022. If deadline is not complied with, the State Chief Secretary may be hauled up for contempt of court, the official said.
Mysuru produces about 450 tonnes of waste every day and the plant at Vidyaranyapuram has a capacity to process no more than 150 to 200 tonnes per day. Even if the 9 zero waste management plants process about 45 tonnes per day at the rate of 5 tonnes per plant, a large quantum of waste is added every day to mounds of untreated waste lying at Vidyaranyapuram.
The work is expected to be completed within nine months from the date the contract is awarded and an estimated 25 acres of land is likely to be reclaimed by the MCC after the biomining or scientific processing of the legacy waste is completed.
As part of the biomining, the legacy waste will be segreated and sorted before processing. The Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) will be transported out of the Vidyaranpuram site. The successful bidder should also supply excavators, loaders, trailers and trucks for the biomining exercise.
The 25 acres of land on which the legacy waste has now piled up can be reclaimed by the MCC through bioremediation after the biomining exercise and used for other purposes.
The invitation of bids comes weeks after Minister in charge of Mysuru district S.T. Somashekar announced that work on the waste treatment plants at Kesare and Rayanakere will start soon.
The tender process had been completed for the 200 tonnes per day plant at Kesare and 150 tonnes per day plant at Rayanakere. The capacity shortfall to treat about 200 tonnes per day in Mysuru is expected to be more than made good by the plants at Kesare and Rayanakere, which together have a capacity of 350 tonnes.
While the plant at Kesare is expected to come up on 25 acres of land near the Outer Ring Road at a cost of ₹11.32 crore, the unit at Rayanakere will be coming up on 7 acres of land near H.D. Kote road at a cost of ₹9.7 crore.