Indian Express 27.11.2009
Garbage dump deadline draws near, no alternative plan in sight
The city is staring at a major problem as the December 15 deadline for stopping garbage dumping in Uruli Devachi draws near with no alternative location in place. As a temporary measure, the civic administration is now busy exploring the possibility of using land in each of the 14 wards in the city for waste management.
The government has summoned the civic officials on Friday to discuss the issue. “We are aware of the deadline and are working on a solution,” said Municipal Commissioner Mahesh Zagade.
According to civic officials, the PMC has not been able to find a solution. The process of identifying landfill sites at four places in the district is on. The district administration suggested sites for dumping, but they belong to forest department. “It will be almost impossible to get an approval from the Union environment ministry for developing the forest land for dumping,” sources said.
The fact that waste processing unit set up by Solid Waste to Electricity Company (Selco) at Ururli Devachi has remained a non-starter has added to the problems. “Around 1,000 tonnes per day is dumped at Uruli Devachi and the plan was to process it completely using two units of 500 tonnes each. At present, 300 tonnes are being processed at a private unit; its capacity will soon be increased to 500 tonnes. But the closure of Selco-run plant will delay the processing of the remaining 500 tonnes,” said Suresh Jagtap, Head of PMC solid waste department.
“We have been able to identify 10 locations at the ward-level for garbage processing using bio-gas plants. Two plants have started functioning but there is opposition from citizens against biogas plants coming up in residential localities,” he said. Even the efforts to process waste in the PMC-owned gardens is facing opposition, Jagtap said. Meanwhile, the villagers of Uruli Devachi are in no mood to accept any more excuse by the civic body. “We called off the agitation in May after the civic body sought seven months to resolve the issue. However, the assurances have not been fulfilled,” said Dilip Mehta, member of Kachra Depot Hatao Sangharsha Samiti.
