The Hindu                     05.04.2013

Garbage disposal a Herculean task for VMC

No place to dump the garbage generated in the city.

Where should garbage generated in the city be dumped? This is the biggest challenge before Municipal Corporation officials nowadays. With the residents of Adavinekkalam up in arms against the proposal to develop a dumping yard in their locality, the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) officials are keeping their fingers crossed. It neither has land nor made any proposal for a scientific dumping yard in its 2013-14 budget.

The VMC is having a tough time finding alternatives, particularly after the Pathapadu villagers opposed dumping in their village limits. The VMC, till sometime ago, dumped garbage at Pathapadu village near here. It spent nearly Rs.4 crore, including Rs.1.5 crore for infrastructure and pits for scientific disposal.

It has now become a Herculean task for the VMC to acquire land for scientific dumping of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). Proposals were made for development of 100 acres into a scientific garbage dumping yard at Nunna, but they remained on paper for various reasons, including stiff opposition from farmers and the Forest Department.

The VMC requires more than 700 acres of land for its projects, including a dumping yard. The VMC has plans to develop a scientific dumping yard in 200 acre of land at Adivinekkalam, but the villagers opposed it. The Corporation literally has no land to dispose of the garbage.

The city generates nearly 550 tonnes of MSW every day. Nearly 250 tonnes of it is being dumped at Pathapadu and the remaining at Shri Ram Energy Systems for power generation.

Residents of Ajitsingh Nagar had a whiff of fresh air for a brief period when the dumping at Shriram Energy Systems was stopped.