Dera Bassi: Decade on, Punjab local bodies department scraps waste mgmt project

After a decade, the Punjab local bodies department has scrapped the solid waste management project at Samgoli in Dera Bassi; In December last year, the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) had backed out

After a decade, the Punjab local bodies department has scrapped the solid waste management project at Samgoli in Dera Bassi. In December last year, the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) had backed out.

Currently, Mohali is generating 150 metric tonnes (MT) of garbage in a day. It is being dumped at an unauthorised site in Industrial Area, Phase 8B, and nearby residents and industrialists are already protesting. (HT file)

A senior officer of the local bodies department, who wished not to be named, said that the local bodies of Mohali district have already constructed waste resource management centres. The wet waste dumped in pits will eventually be organically converted to manure, which can be further sold to increase the income of civic bodies. So, there is no need for a solid waste management plant, he said.

He said that now, the state government is looking for the latest technology, through which refuse-derived fuel (RDF) or by-products of waste can be used to make coal to be sold to thermal plants in the state.

In March last year, the Punjab government had approved handing over the construction and operations of the ‘waste to energy plant to NTPC. The state government had also given approval to the local bodies department for an MoU between NTPC and the Mohali municipal corporation (MC), being the nodal agency, for the execution of the project. But, the project did not materialise.

The project has been hanging fire for the past decade. Mohali MC had prepared the detailed project report (DPR) 11 years back at a cost of ₹100 crore, including the land cost.

Currently, Mohali is generating 150 metric tonnes (MT) of garbage in a day. It is being dumped at an unauthorised site in Industrial Area, Phase 8B, and nearby residents and industrialists are already protesting.

In August last year, Mohali had slipped to the 157th place out of 382 cities in the nationwide Swachh Survekshan rankings. In 2019, the district’s rank was 153, while in 2018, it was 109. The main reason for Mohali’s worst slip is that the city failed to get garbage processing projects off the ground.

MC commissioner Kamal Kumar Garg said, “We have only constructed the boundary wall of the plant and the state government has to take a final decision on the project,” he said.