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Panchkula MC set to miss March 31 deadline to clear Sector 23 landfill
Under the scrutiny of the National Green Tribunal for shoddy handling of legacy waste remediation, MC in January had submitted before the tribunal that they will be able to clear the landfill in Panchkula’s Sector 23 by March 2024
The Panchkula municipal corporation is set to miss the March 31 deadline of completely clearing the Sector 23 dumpsite of legacy waste.
Under the scrutiny of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for shoddy handling of legacy waste remediation, MC in January had submitted before the tribunal that they will be able to clear the landfill in Sector 23 by March 2024.
In its report submitted before NGT, MC had stated that its project to biomine the legacy waste in Sector 23 and Jhuriwala was on track despite delays.
However, three days before the deadline, MC has managed to process only 67% of the legacy waste dumped in Sector 23. Of the total 3 lakh metric tonnes (MT) legacy waste rotting at the site, only 2.07 lakh MT has been biomined. MC is now attempting to clear the waste by May 4.
Work to biomine the legacy waste in Sector 23 had started in September 2023, but owing to unfavourable weather conditions in September and October, and some issues with machinery, the process was delayed.
MC sub-divisional officer Manoj Ahlawat said the work of garbage processing was going on in full swing. By May 4, the entire 3 lakh MT tonnes of garbage will be cleared. After that, a fresh assessment of any outstanding garbage will be done and the remaining garbage will be collected by allotting a new tender.
At Jhuriwala, MC has been able to process the entire 90,000 MT of legacy waste since December. However, on March 14, MC submitted that an additional 13,000 MT of garbage needs to be processed and the work is underway.
In the absence of a garbage processing facility, Panchkula MC began transporting garbage to Patvi, Ambala, in 2023.
Owing to the absence of a garbage processing facility, Panchkula tumbled down from the 86th rank in 2022 to the 139th position among 446 cities with a population above 1 lakh in the 2023 Swachh Survekshan rankings released recently.
Fresh assessment of garbage after Lok Sabha polls
According to MC officials, garbage was being dumped in Sector 23 from 2004 to 2020. Previously a mining site, the land here is uneven in several parts, making it difficult to assess the density of the garbage dumped.
Therefore, even after processing the 3 lakh MT legacy waste, a sizeable quantity of garbage will be left at the site for which MC will have to float a tender again. “Before floating the new tender, an assessment of the left over garbage will be done by IIT Roorkee, so that a new tender can be floated accordingly,” said a senior MC official, adding that this will be done after the Lok Sabha elections in June due to the model code of conduct.
