At the Dadumajra garbage dumping ground in Chandigarh. (Express File Photo by Kamleshwar Singh) AS PER details prepared by the Municipal Corporation Chandigarh, a fresh mountain of waste of 1 lakh metric tonnes has come up at Dadumajra.
The 10-metre-high waste dump has come up over an area of 8 acres at the Dadumajra dumping yard.
The new waste mountain has come up when a company, at a cost of Rs 34 crore, is clearing up lakh metric tonnes of waste piled up over the years.
Commissioner Municipal Corporation KK Yadav told The Indian Express that because of the high wet waste component, the new mountain will take more time to be processed and will also cost more for the civic body. “The previous waste that is being done is mostly dry, so it is easy to carry out process. As per the current rate of mining, it will cost us Rs 7 crore more on this new waste as most of it is wet. It will cost us more than the estimated amount,” Yadav said.
If the civic body goes ahead to pay these additional charges and the company agrees to carry out legacy mining here too, another new mountain is likely to come up as there is no proper waste processing facility working in Chandigarh.
“We have called expression of interest from firms to run the waste processing plant. Because of no proper processing, waste will be dumped here and another dump will come up till we clear previous one,” Yadav added.
Of the 425 metric tonne waste being generated on a daily basis in Chandiagrh as of now, only 80 metric tonne is being processed, while the remaining chunk is dumped in the ground. In three days, over 1000 metric tonne of waste is being dumped in the ground.
WHY IS The WASTE PROCESSING PLANT NOT FUNCTIONING PROPERLY
Had the waste processing plant at Dadumajra been functioning to its optimum capacity, Chandigarh would have managed to clear and bio mine the entire waste at the dumping ground. However, since the plant is not working, waste piles up at the yard every day.
The civic body took over the processing plant from Jaypee group in last year, owing to the fact that Jaypee was not processing the waste and dumping most of it at the ground. Due to the long legal battle then and the company’s inefficient working, the MC decided to terminate the agreement and take over the plant. Workers working at the company were hired by the MC.
The civic body said they don’t have an alternative because the plant is not working to its optimum capacity.
In last year’s House meeting, the civic body had approved calling expression of interest from private firm to upgrade the garbage processing plant. IIT Roorkee has already been roped in to give its observations and it had further recommended Setting up/ upgradation of plant.
BATTLE WITH JAYPEEGROUP
After an MoU was signed between the parties in 2005 and 2008, Jaypee had set up a garbage processing plant at Dadumajra. However, the matter became a political tussle with the change in power as the BJP came to power in the city.
According to the agreement, about 10 acres land was provided to the company for setting up the plant at a nominal lease rent of Rs 1 per square meter per annum for a period of 30 years. However, the company went into a legal battle later demanding tipping fee from the civic body, even as the MC contended that the agreement did not mention it.
Meanwhile, the civic body argued that the company was not processing the city’s waste and most of it was going to the dumping ground which was an environmental concern.
The two parties were involved in a prolonged legal battle before the MC took over the plant on June 20, 2020.
The Dadumajra dumping ground has become a recurring poll issue.
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