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Additional 25,000 MT waste to be dumped at Dadumajra site in Chandigarh
The MC took over the plant from Jaypee group on June 19 and has been running it since.
Even as waste processing at the Dadumajra dumping site is yet to pick up speed, the municipal corporation is now planning to dump an additional 25,000 metric tonnes (MT) of legacy waste here.
Legacy wastes are the wastes that have been collected and kept for years at some barren land or a place dedicated for landfill (an area to dump solid waste).
The MC took over the plant from Jaypee group on June 19 and has been running it since. The MC had signed an agreement with Jaypee in 2005 for setting up a garbage processing plant, but in February this year, the MC General House had ordered a takeover because it observed that the plant was not being operated to its optimum capacity.
In the aftermath of that decision, the MC officials now say that 25,000 MT waste will be dumped at the plant. “The shifting of the dumped legacy waste has to be done so that the waste processing plant could be run properly. We will shift the legacy waste to the dumping site in phases so that it will not burden the removal process,” said a senior MC official. Nearly 5 lakh MT legacy waste is being processed at the dumping site.
In addition to legacy waste, the MC is also planning to remove large quantities of compost and refuse-derived fuel (RDF) from the plant. “It is harming the processing of waste at the plant because of paucity of space,” the official said.
The compost and RDF, for immediately clearing it, will be sold at the rates at which the company was earlier selling it. Meanwhile, revised rates will be decided and sold through e-auction. “There are also plans to sell compost generated at the plant itself and also at a counter at MC office in Sector 17. MC’s horticulture wing will also use it. MC is also exploring the option of home delivery,” added the official.
The MC will also get repaired all the machinery at the plant for effective functioning. The plant was set up in 2008 to process 500 tonnes of garbage per day, but was only processing 100 MT per day.
As per the recommendations made by the National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR), the municipal solid waste processing facility requires a complete replacement of the machinery with new technology for operating efficiently.
The NITTTR report submitted with the MC commissioner blamed the poor maintenance of the plant for its present condition. The MC plans for improving the plant’s working will be taken up in the July 30 MC General House meeting.
