PUNE: The Shiv Sena on Monday demanded that the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation's (PCMC) project of converting plastic waste into fuel should be scrapped as it has not achieved much success. The project has been operational since the last six years at the municipal corporation's garbage depot.

In a letter sent to municipal commissioner Shrikar Pardeshi, Shiv Sena corporator Seema Savale said that only about 35,000 litres of fuel has been generated in the past six years. The PCMC gets Re 1 for every litre of fuel produced in the project. The corporation, in the last six years, has received just Rs 35,000 from the contractor when it was supposed to get Rs 3.31 crore. The corporation should, therefore, scrap the project, she said.

Savale said that the contractor was supposed to install a plant to process 25 tonnes of plastic waste every day. The corporation has given Rs 2 crore to the contractor and allotted five acres of land on lease for a period of 30 years at a nominal rent of Rs 1,000 per annum. The plant processes just 1.5 tonnes of waste per day, she said.

Savale alleged that the harmful gases generated from the unit are released into the air directly causing pollution and affecting the health of residents. This resulted in violation of the Environment Protection Act, Air Pollution Control Act and Plastic Garbage (management and handling) Act, she added.

When contacted, Sanjay Kulkarni, executive engineer of PCMC's environment department, said, "The contractor has been directed to enhance the production capacity of the unit. The trial run of an additional unit is in progress. Once this unit becomes operational, the total capacity of the units will increase to five tonnes per day. The civic body has recovered Rs two crore from the contractor.''