Bhubaneswar: Stalemate over, waste dumping at Daruthenga to resume today

BHUBANESWAR: The logjam over the disposal of waste at the Bhuasuni dump yard in Daruthenga village ended on Tuesday following a high-level meeting between the representatives of the village and a government team led by urban development minister Usha Devi.
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), in an official statement issued on Tuesday evening, said dumping of waste in Daruthenga will resume from Wednesday.
Lifting of garbage from different wards of the city and its disposal had become a headache for the BMC for the past 20 days as villagers in Daruthenga did not allow vehicles carrying garbage to enter the Bhuasuni dump yard.
The high-level meeting was also attended by BMC mayor Sulochana Das, BMC commissioner Vijay Amruta Kulange and Daruthenga sarpanch Tapan Kumar Chakrabarti, where the demands of villagers were discussed. The sarpanch said the villagers do not want the BMC to dump the city’s waste at Bhuasuni. They also demanded the civic body to clean the old garbage dumped at the yard and Rs 50 lakh compensation to the youth who died after a garbage van hit him recently.
Minister Devi said a decision has been taken to fulfil the demands of the villagers as early as possible. “We will try to resolve the issue before the nine months is over. It was a fruitful discussion. The process has been started and the waste disposal will begin shortly. The villagers want to shift the dump yard from the existing spot near Daruthenga,” Devi said.
As per the decisions taken in the meeting, the BMC will ensure construction and operation of required number of micro composting centres (MCCs) and material recovery facilities (MRFs) in a time-bound manner.
“The civic body will adhere to the nine-month action plan presented in the meeting and shall stop further transportation and dumping of waste at Bhuasuni after May 2023. Housing and urban development department secretary will review the progress of setting up of micro composting centres and reduction in transportation of waste to Bhuasuni every month,” read the official statement.
Based on the progress of setting up of the MCCs and reduction in carrying waste to Bhuasuni, the BMC commissioner and the Daruthenga sarpanch will decide on the commencement of bio-mining project at the dumping yard at the earliest. Chakrabarti said the state government heard their views and agreed to their demands.