Chandigarh MC plans to hand over waste processing plant to private contractor

Will be inviting expression of interest from agencies to upgrade or replace the existing machinery and manage the plant

The municipal corporation is once again considering plans to hand over the waste processing plant in Sector 25 to a private contractor.

The Chandigarh municipal corporation took charge of the garbage processing plant from the Jaypee group in June this year. (HT Photo)

It is likely to invite expression of interest from various agencies to run and upgrade the plant.

The MC had taken over the plant around six months back from the Jaypee Group after a bitter dispute over its management.

The plant is currently working at around 10% of its capacity, adding to the challenges of processing solid waste in a city that produces nearly 470 metric tonnes of waste daily.

Like Jaypee, MC too has been disposing of unprocessed waste at the Dadumajra dumping ground.

“For better utilisation of the plant, MC is planning to invite expression of interest from agencies. They will upgrade or replace the existing machinery and manage the plant,” said a senior MC official on condition of anonymity.

The plant was built in 2008 according to Municipal Solid Waste 2000 (MSW) guidelines. “All machines are already 12 years old, at the end of their life. Primary and secondary shredders are not in working condition,” the official said.

Notably, the National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research here, in a report earlier this year had said that “complete replacement of the machinery to process municipal solid waste with new technology” was required.

The civil engineering department of the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee (IIT-R), in its Status report of 500 TPD (tonnes per day) solid waste processing plant, Chandigarh, had something else to say. The machinery required immediate repairs and maintenance and after that the could “be run at 40% of its capacity”.

IIT-R had advocated setting up “a new modern 500 TPD plant for dry and wet waste treatment in the given plot. For the wet waste stream – biological treatment will be required to meet Solid Waste Management Rules (SWM), 2016,” the report said.

NGT PANEL VISITS PLANT

Meanwhile, the National Green Tribunal (NGT)-formed panel led by justice Pritam Pal on Monday visited the processing plant, three waste recovery centres and other sites. The panel directed the MC official to run the plant at its optimum capacity.