Chandigarh mayor writes to Punjab governor, seeks 20 acres in Mohali for setting up integrated waste processing plant
Aimed at effectively tackling the city’s daily waste generation of 550 metric tonnes (MT), the new plant, with a capacity of 600 tonnes per day, is proposed to comprise three facilities – one each for dry, wet and horticulture waste
City mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor on Wednesday formally requested Punjab governor and UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria for 20 acres in Mohali to relocate the proposed integrated solid waste management processing plant from Dadumajra.

Through a letter, he proposed that the facility could process waste generated by both Chandigarh and Mohali.
“Chandigarh, being the capital of both Punjab and Haryana, also houses offices and residences of employees from both states. The city, with a population exceeding 12 lakh, produces approximately 450-500 metric tonnes of solid waste daily. This waste needs to be processed on a daily basis, as per the guidelines of Solid Waste Management Rules. The Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) has expressed its intention to construct a processing plant to manage and process this waste, for which approximately 20 acres of land is required in Mohali where this waste can be processed,” he stated in the letter.
Assuring that the plant will be constructed by Chandigarh MC at its own cost and MC was also ready to process the solid waste of Mohali on pro rata basis, Dhalor requested for approximately 20 acres in the vicinity of Mohali to set up the plant.
Plant approved by MC House in 2023
The plant was approved by the Chandigarh MC House in June 2023 for 15 years. Aimed at effectively tackling the city’s daily waste generation of 550 metric tonnes (MT), the new plant, with a capacity of 600 tonnes per day, is proposed to comprise three facilities – one each for dry, wet and horticulture waste.
As per the current proposal, it will be set up on a part of the Dadumajra landfill after clearing the area. MC has yet to allot the project to a private firm and it will take at least two years for the plant to be set up.
Dhalor, who represents the Dadumajra area in the MC House, along with the area residents, has been voicing strong opposition to the plant being set up at Dadumajra landfill, which is located in the middle of residential area.
Citing significant health hazards to residents, Dhalor and Dadumajra residents have time and again urged MC officials to find an alternative site in Chandigarh or its surroundings for relocating the proposed plant.
Over 200 residents had attended the public hearing, mandated by the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change, in July last year, and highlighted the environmental and health risks, urging authorities to reconsider the plant’s location.
Even AAP and Congress councillors had requested the then UT administrator Banwari Lal Purohit to relocate the plant from Dadumajra, but Purohit had denied their request.
“As per city’s 1987 master plan, the dumping ground has been approved at Dadumajra. The city does not have any vacant 50-acre land where the new integrated plant can be set up. Also, the site has already got environmental clearances, and the project has been designed and approved by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), which is a premier institute and has previously worked on several successful projects like the waste processing plant in Goa,” Purohit had said.
