3 yrs after hiring cos, NMC plans to add garbage transfer stations

Nagpur: Three years after appointing two firms for door-to-door garbage lifting, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) on Thursday approached the district collectorate and Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) seeking land at three places for setting up garbage transfer stations.
Taking advantage of the NMC’s apathy, the firms were allegedly violating the contractual conditions by transferring non-segregated wet and dry garbage to the dumping yard.
While one transfer station is already operational on the civic body’s land, the NMC will set up three more such facilities on its land, said municipal commissioner Radhakrishnan B.
Though the city requires at least 10 transfer stations, the NMC has only one at Budhwar Bazar, admitted additional municipal commissioner Ram Joshi.
Presently, the average daily garbage generation in the city hovers between 1,250 and 1,300 metric tonnes. Both the door-to-door garbage lifting firms — AG Enviro and BVG India — have been transferring the waste to Bhandewadi dumping yard via 16 transfer points.
TOI has reported various irregularities by the two firms, essentially due to lack of transfer stations. Taking cognisance of this, the NMC has finally decided to set up at least six more garbage transfer stations across the city.
Notably, the Nagpur Smart and Sustainable City Development Corporation Limited (NSSCDCL) had proposed to construct 10 hi-tech garbage transfer stations. However, the then municipal commissioner Tukaram Mundhe had scrapped the NSSCDCL decision. The Smart City was planning to develop each station at a cost of Rs7 to Rs8 crore, said sources.
For the proposed sites, the NMC owns land at Chinchbhuvan ghat, behind Lakadganj zone office, and Gorewada road.
On Wednesday, the NMC wrote letters to NIT chairman Manoj Kumar Suryavanshi seeking 0.96 hectare land in front of HCG Hospital alongside Jaripatka-Kalamna Ring Road for setting up a garbage transfer station, and to district collector Dr Vipin Itankar for state government land at two places — 1.11 hectare land behind Mor Bhavan and a piece of land in Jattarodi Rambagh — for setting up the facilities. The land behind Mor Bhavan has been allotted to the directorate of industries.
Commenting on the development, former standing committee chairman Virendra Kukreja said there will be no problem for the NMC to develop garbage transfer stations across the city. “With Devendra Fadnavis as deputy chief minister, BJP will ensure NMC gets required land owned by the state government and NIT free of cost,” he said. Being a civic agency, NIT itself should develop the garbage transfer station, he said.
POINTS TO PONDER
* City generates 1,250-1,300 MT waste daily
* AG Enviro lifts garbage from five zones — Laxmi Nagar, Dharampeth, Hanuman Nagar, Dhantoli and Nehru Nagar
* BVG India lifts garbage from five zones — Gandhibagh, Satranjipura, Lakadganj, Ashi Nagar and Mangalwari
* At present city has only one transfer station & 16 transfer points
* NMC plans to set up six more transfer stations