Aggrieved by National Green Tribunal (NGT) order of processing of solid waste from Shimla, Solan and Baddi in Chandigarh, the local municipal corporation commissioner Bhawna Garg has shot off a letter to her counterpart in Shimla Pankaj Rai, asking him not to send waste to city at least till October 13, the next date of hearing at the NGT.
Shimla municipal commissioner, however, said they were to comply with the NGT orders.
Interestingly, the NGT, in its order had directed the Chandigarh MC not to raise any objection against receiving the waste from Shimla.
In the letter to her Shimla counterpart, Garg stated that they would appear before the NGT on October 13, seeking to be made a party and given opportunity to be heard; till then no garbage should be sent for processing at the Dadumajra plant in Sector 25, Chandigarh.
Also, as per the memorandum of understanding signed between the garbage processing plant and Chandigarh MC, the plant is not supposed to process garbage from any other place except Chandigarh.
On October 1, the NGT had issued directions that 90 tonnes of solid waste from Himachal Pradesh — Shimla (60 tonnes), Baddi (20) and Solan (10) — be sent to Chandigarh for processing. The first truck from Himachal Pradesh reached the Dadumajra waste processing plant on Monday.
RD Sharma, in-charge of the waste processing plant in Chandigarh, said, “We are in a fix as Chandigarh Municipal Corporation is pressuring us not to accept garbage from Shimla, but we have to comply with the NGT order also. Processing extra waste means we will have to consume more power and deploy more manpower, which is not viable as we are already incurring losses,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}RD Sharma, in-charge of the waste processing plant in Chandigarh, said, “We are in a fix as Chandigarh Municipal Corporation is pressuring us not to accept garbage from Shimla, but we have to comply with the NGT order also. Processing extra waste means we will have to consume more power and deploy more manpower, which is not viable as we are already incurring losses,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Currently, Shima MC is spending Rs 22,000 as transportation cost per vehicle coming to Chandigarh and six truck-loads of garbage enter the UT everyday. Before the waste started coming from the hill state, the Chandigarh plant was already treating nearly 250 tonnes of waste daily.
The National Green Tribunal order came in the wake of closure of solid waste management plant at Bhariyal on the outskirts of the hill city. On daily basis about 70 to 80 tonne of solid waste is collected from household in 25 wards of Shimla.