By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 3 May: The Dehradun Municipal Corporation had recently sought approval of the Election Commission of India for the go ahead for three Solid Waste Management projects regarding Shishambara Solid Waste Plant. It may be recalled that the Model Code of Conduct (MCOC) is in force across the country in view of the ongoing General Elections and, as a result, permission of the Election Commission is required for any new project. As the polling in the state has been already held on 19 April, the Election Commission has given a green signal to these three projects. As soon as a letter in this regard is issued from the government, the Dehradun Municipal Corporation will start the tendering process for the 3 proposed projects. These projects are aimed at disposal and waste management of the huge pile of garbage dumped at Shishambara plant near Sahaspur.
It may be recalled that local people have held several protests against the Shishambara plant complaining of constant stink from the plant due to the unprocessed garbage dump there.
The Municipal Corporation had recently prepared Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of three projects for garbage disposal but the DPRs could not be sanctioned by the government due to the MCOC in force in the state. The Corporation had sought the permission of the Election Commission in view of the urgency through the state’s urban development department. After which these proposals were sent to the screening committee which had forwarded the same to the Election Commission which has granted green signal to the projects.
As part of the first project of the Municipal Corporation, 4.2 metric tons of garbage left by Ramky Infrastructure Company is to be disposed of from the Shishambara garbage plant. The company had started garbage disposal in the year 2018, but according to the Municipal Corporation, instead of disposing the garbage, the company was merely dumping the garbage at the Shishambara plant as a result of which, a huge hill of garbage now stands at the plant. The report of IIT Roorkee, which had conducted a study of the plant, mentions that 4.2 metric tons of garbage is accumulated at the plant. As a result of the report, the Municipal Corporation which was looking the other way in respect of the garbage problem which kept on piling, was pressurised to take action. The Ramky Infrastructure was therefore shown the door. This project was later handed over by the Municipal Corporation to Dehradun Smart City Project company which on the direction of the government prepared a DPR worth Rs 24 crores for waste disposal.
The capacity of the machines installed in Shishambara garbage plant to process the waste is 250 metric tons per day whereas the garbage of more than 450 tons is dumped their everyday. The plant is run in two shifts but is unable to process the entire garbage received per day. On the orders of NGT, work was done to increase its capacity. After which the Municipal Corporation has prepared DPR to increase its capacity from 250 to 500 tonne per day.
The second project concern a treatment plant to treat and dispose of the dirty water coming out of the Shishambara plant. The capacity of the existing plant is 30 KLD per day which the IIT Roorkee had found to be grossly inadequate. During the inspection of the garbage disposal plant by the NGT, instructions were given to increase the capacity of the plant. After this, the Municipal Corporation has also prepared a project to increase the capacity. As per the project plan, the capacity of this plant is to be increased from 30 to 100 KLD.
The work will start soon after the order from the government.
