Finnish firm to take over waste management in major UP cities
The company will invest around $2 million on waste management in the state and may also set up a new waste disposal plant in Lucknow. AVS Group looks after the firm’s operations in India, says LMC official
LUCKNOW A Finnish company, ‘Clean Tech’, is all set to take over the work of waste management in major cities of UP, including Lucknow. An MoU to this effect was signed between the state government and the firm on Saturday evening. The company will invest around $2 million on waste management in the state and may also set up a new waste disposal plant in Lucknow. AVS Group looks after the work of the company in India, said an official of the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC).
On Saturday, the team of Clean Tech inspected the Shivri plant here. A meeting was held with the municipal commissioner, during which information was exchanged about the operation of the plant and its feasibility.
After this, the CEO of the company had a discussion with the state’s urban development minister Arvind Sharma and top officials of the urban development department.
Subsequently, the company gave a presentation on its action plan regarding the work of waste management in UP cities, after which the MoU was signed.
Municipal commissioner Inderjeet Singh said, “It is clear that now this company will undertake waste management work in the city. It will be the third company to handle this responsibility. Like the previous companies, the firm will only do door-to-door waste collection and its disposal at the plant, while the road sweeping work would be performed by the LMC.”
He said, “Clean Tech has signed an MoU with the state government regarding investment in waste management. As soon as the order comes from the government, the responsibility of the work will be handed over to the new company.”
It will take a year to remove garbage from Shivri, said LMC officials.
“So much of garbage is accumulated at the Shivri plant that it may take more than a year for its disposal. The machines there are also old. In such a situation, the Clean Tech can set up a new plant,” said Arvind Rao, additional municipal commissioner.
Municipal commissioner Indrajit Singh said the proposal given by the company will be implemented on the instructions of the government. “If the company sets up a new plant, land will be given for it,” he added.
The waste management plan for the city was approved in 2007 under the JNNURM scheme for scientific disposal of waste and the waste management plant at Shivri was made operational in 2012. Jyoti Envirotech, a city-based company, first got the job of waste management. In 2017, this responsibility was given to a Chinese company Ecogreen Energy. It also worked well for two years, but later couldn’t perform properly. As a result, a mountain of 20 lakh metric tonnes of garbage has accumulated at the Shivri plant.
