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Chandigarh: Bio-mining of 55% legacy waste completed at Dadumajra dump
Chandigarh municipal corporation is planning to complete bio-mining of entire 12.67 lakh MT legacy waste by year end
The Chandigarh municipal corporation has completed bio-mining of 55% of the 12.67 lakh metric tonnes (MT) legacy waste lying dumped at the Dadumajra landfill and aims to process the remaining by the end of this year.
To complete bio-mining of the remaining 45% legacy waste, the civic body will seek approval from the House during a special meeting on solid waste management on May 13. Approval will be sought for disbursing ₹44 crore under the solid waste management head from the budgets of financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25.
While Chandigarh’s daily solid waste generation is around 550-600 MT, most of it is dumped at the Dadumajra landfill without processing, leading to mountains of waste.
A total of 12.67 lakh MT legacy waste is to be cleared at the landfill to reclaim over 25 acres of land. Of this, 5 lakh MT dumped before 2005 is being bio-mined under a Smart City project. Initially planned to completed by May 2021, the project now has a July 2023 deadline.
The remaining 7.67 lakh MT legacy waste dumped after 2005 will be tackled through a ₹77-crore project under the Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0. While the central government has contributed ₹28.02 crore for the project, the remaining cost will be borne by MC.
As per MC officials, the 25-acre land was claimed in 2008 by capping, covering and closing as per Municipal Solid Waste Rules, 2000.
A sanitary landfill site was developed on eight acres in 2008, but MC started dumping unprocessed garbage from Dadumajra processing plant, which resulted in pilling up of second mountain with 7.6 7 lakh MT waste, becoming a major nuisance for residents of nearby areas due to foul smell, leachate and frequent fires.
MC officials said bio-mining of the 5 lakh MT legacy waste had been completed and only a portion of the refuse derived fuel (RDF), to the tune of 12,000 MT, was required to be removed from the site. The officials plan to lift the RDF by July 2023, after which 20 acres will be reclaimed.
MC commissioner Anindita Mitra said, “A total of 2 lakh MT waste has also been bio-mined at the second mountain of 7.67 lakh MT and the work is being executed at great speed. Once the funds are disbursed, the remaining 5.67 lakh MT legacy waste will also be bio-mined by December this year. We aim to clear the legacy waste this year itself and enhance the processing capacity of fresh waste to avoid any new mountain of garbage.”
Temporary composting plant for wet waste
Meanwhile, in a bid to process the city’s wet waste to prevent another mountain of legacy waste, MC has proposed to set up a temporary composting plant at the Dadumajra dumping ground at a cost of ₹10.53 crore. The agenda will also be taken up at the May 13 meet, along with MC’s plan of setting up an integrated solid waste processing plant project in Sector 25.
Of the total 550 MT garbage generated in the city daily, around 374 MT is wet waste, while the remaining is dry.
