The Times of India                29.05.2013 

PCMC to get land for garbage depot in Punawale

PUNE: The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation ( PCMC) will soon get possession of land for a new garbage depot in Punawale. The present 80-acre depot in Moshi can be used for the next two-three years.

Municipal commissioner Shrikar Pardeshi said the civic body had paid the forest department Rs 3.53 crore three years ago to acquire 62 acres in Punawale village. "The civic body will try to make the most of the Moshi garbage depot for another two to three years. The new depot is spread over 23 hectares on survey number 24 in Punawale village located off Katraj-Dehu Road bypass in Pimpri Chinchwad," he said.

The civic body needs another five-hectare private land in the adjacent place. The land acquisition is being conducted through the collectorate. The transfer of the entire land is expected soon. The town planning department will demarcate it. Two years ago, residents of Punawale, Ravet, Tathawade, and Wakad had opposed the garbage depot.

The daily garbage generation in the city is around 600 tonne. The civic body has implemented vermicomposting and mechanical composting projects on the site. The civic body has also carried out scientific capping of garbage to prevent contamination of soil and ground water.

In the first phase, the civic body conducted capping of 1.2 lakh cubic meter of garbage on 2.75 acre land at an expenditure of Rs 3.25 crore. In the second phase, PCMC's environment department will be capping around 3 lakh cubic meter of garbage on six acres of the garbage depot. The work is to be completed in one and half years at a cost of Rs 8 crore. Many houses have come up around the depot in the past two decades and people want the garbage depot capped.