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Adharwadi dump yard closure plan stalled by KDMC
The closure of Adharwadi dumping ground, which had started in February 2018, has been stalled completely for now.
The closure of Adharwadi dumping ground, which had started in February 2018, has been stalled completely for now.
Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) officials from the solid waste management department claim that the work can commence only after the dumping of waste at Adharwadi is diverted to another dump yard.
Around 650 metric tonnes of waste is dumped at Adharwadi every day and the capacity of the dumping ground to contain waste has reached its peak, causing severe pollution in the area from the past two years.
“The work has been stalled completely for now, as waste continues to be dumped at Adharwadi dumping ground. Until that is stopped, we cannot resume the closure work. Once the alternative scientific landfilling is ready, we will resume the closure work. As of now, it is unclear when the closure work will begin,” said a KDMC official.
Activists have slammed the KDMC’s lackadaisical approach. “The civic body should not have initiated the closure work without opening an alternative site for dumping and processing waste,” said Sreeniwas Ghanekar, activist from Kalyan.
“The company which was appointed to clear the waste claims that the civic body has violated the tender norms by not stopping the dumping activity before giving them the contract. The civic body did not do proper planning and the project, worth crores, is stalled,” he added.
In February 2018, the civic body, after a prolonged wait, had managed to commence the process to clear the heaps of waste with the help of bio-remediation method, at the old saturated dumping ground, located near Durgadi chowk in Kalyan (West).
The KDMC had awarded the work to clear the dumping ground to Surat-based firm for ₹29.53 crore. While the Centre was funding 20% of the cost, the state contributed 13.13% and the rest 67.67% was borne by KDMC.
The firm had begun the process with the help of tromel, a machine which clears 250 tonnes of waste in eight to 10 hours every day. The estimated time to complete the work was set for three years. As per the plan, the machine was meant to clear an area covering to pave way for the proposed ring road project. Around 15-20% of the Adharwadi dumping ground falls in between the ring road.
“After a year, we did not renew the agreement with the company, as the work done by them was not making any major difference, owing to the continuous dumping activity at the site,” added the official.
Earlier, KDMC had planned to start the scientific landfilling at other proposed sites – Umbarde, Barave and Manda Titwala – and simultaneously begin the closure of Adharwadi. However, it could not start the alternative site owing to opposition from locals near these sites.
The civic body then started clearing the Adharwadi dumping ground after the residents close to the dumping ground put pressure on authorities to do so.
