The Times of Indian - Ahmedabad 20.08.2009

Garbage disposal plan to keep birds at bay

Kumar Manish, TNN 20 August 2009, 02:40am IST

AHMEDABAD: The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's multi-crore solid waste disposal project could be the answer to the woes of Ahmedabad airport officials!

The Ahmedabad Airport Authority has been for long blaming AMC for perennial bird hits at the airport.

But now, AMC authorities are planning an Rs 32-crore ambitious solid waste management (SWM) project under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), which will ensure proper disposal of garbage system in all the five municipal zones of AMC.

AMC municipal commissioner, IP Gautam said, "Recently, we held meetings with AAI officials on the garbage disposal near the airport. We have taken several steps to keep the area near the surrounding wall of city airport garbage-free."

"However, we found that the airport walls have been broken at many places, which needs immediate attention from AAI officials as rag pickers use it to hide garbage, making the job difficult for AMC employees," added Gautam.

The new SWM project will have scientifically developed six garbage collection centers in the city, including one in North zone, where the airport is located.

The garbage from surrounding areas of airport, Kubernagar, Sardarnagar, Hasol, Meghaninagar, Naroda among others will be sent directly to garbage collection center at Naroda Patiya.

Explaining the innovative project, an AMC official said, "The garbage will be collected from the nearby areas and using a compressor unit will be converted into blocks, which will be later transported to Pirana dump yard in containers with a capacity of 14 to 16 tonnes.

Gautam said , "The SWM project will minimize air pollution and help create garbage-free surroundings. The whole system will be a mechanized one."

AMC will be procuring 30 such containers to transport garbage.

Indian Express 19.08.2009

On visit to Dadumajra, mayor finds garbage on fire

In a late night visit to the Solid Waste Management Plant in Dadumajra, Mayor Kamlesh found that instead of being processed, garbage was being burnt at the site. The mayor was accompanied by a few councillors

The mayor decided to conduct the check after receiving numerous complaints from residents in the vicinity of the plant about a foul smell in their colonies.

With the swine flu scare, the councillors inquired about the smell and were informed that it was due to burning of the garbage — the plant has not been functioning for some time now.

With councillors Pardeep Chhabra, Chander Mukhi Sharma, Resham Chand Jakhu and Congress leader Subhash Chawla, the mayor went to inspect the plant and found that nine furnaces were being used to burn the garbage.

In another visit to the dumping ground earlier in the day, the mayor found that trolleys were dumping unprocessed garbage at the site.

“Burning of dry leaves and garbage is banned in the city. If a sweeper is found burning leaves, strict action is taken against him. And in this case tonnes of garbage is being burnt, but nothing is being done,” Kamlesh said. “Councillors can conduct checks and bring the anomalies to light. It is up to the executive to take action. But this is not being done. Even the pollution control board is turning a blind eye to these violations.”

The plant, which is supposed to process 350 metric tonnes of garbage everyday, has been in trouble since its inception.

The company responsible for operating it says garbage cannot be processed as it has high moisture content. But it was the same garbage for which the company agreed operate the plant and on basis of which the terms and conditions were set.