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Chandigarh MC to set up new horticulture waste processing plant, STP
Around 12 tonnes per day (TPD) of pruned horticulture waste is received and processed at the existing horticulture waste processing plant daily. Chandigarh MC has composed bits at 104 sites inside parks, holding a total capacity of 32 TPD, where this horticulture waste is processed to make it into compost.
The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (MC) on Tuesday approved two major projects to enhance the solid and liquid waste management of the city, including a new horticulture waste processing plant at Industrial Area and a sewerage treatment plant in Faidan village.
Around 12 tonnes per day (TPD) of pruned horticulture waste is received and processed at the existing horticulture waste processing plant daily. Chandigarh MC has composed bits at 104 sites inside parks, holding a total capacity of 32 TPD, where this horticulture waste is processed to make it into compost. But to process the leftover horticulture waste, which includes garden waste and small dry leaves, a plan has been made to set up a processing plant of 60 TPD capacity, based on biofuel briquetting technology, at a cost of ₹4 crore at the Industrial Area Phase-2.
The collected horticulture waste will be fed to the plant, segregated from impurities, if any, screened from dust, ground, dried and compacted to make bricks.
Also, as per the guidelines of National Green Tribunal (NGT), MC also approved a project to build a new sewerage treatment plant (STP) to process wastewater from Faidan village, situated on Chandigarh-Punjab border, at a cost of ₹7 crore.
At present, there is no proper sewage network available in the village and the wastewater is being generated on private land that falls outside the jurisdiction of MC. The wastewater is presently being discharged in N-choe which is then discharged finally into Ghaggar river. Though Chandigarh has more than 100% treatment capacity, there is a wastewater gap generated from a densely populated village that remains untreated. Since the land belongs to the Chandigarh administration, the MC has requested its transfer without any cost to construct the STP.
Sidelights
Mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor on Tuesday thanked city councillors and MC officers for supporting him during his tenure as mayor. “As we go into New Year, this may be my last house meeting (maybe of tenure of for 2024. I thank everyone for supporting me throughout the year,” he said. Dhalor was appointed mayor by the Supreme Court and he took charge on February 20, 2024. Though mayor elections are conducted every year in January, AAP may demand one-complete year of mayor tenure and demand elections to be postponed till February. If done, the mayor may hold another house meeting in January but if not, this would be Dhalor’s last house as mayor. Mayor elections are yet to be notified by DC.
AAP and Congress councillors protested against power privatisation in Chandigarh. While raising slogans, councillors demanded roll back of the decision. “Electricity rates will be increased manifold in the city with UT’s decision”, they said, but interestingly, no BJP councillor supported the protest. Notably, AAP-Congress councillors had promised free electricity in Chandigarh in their manifestos.
