Process to set up waste management plant underway, Chandigarh MC informs high court

​The municipal corporation (MC) on Wednesday told Punjab and Haryana high court that it was in the process of setting up an integrated waste management plant with the capacity of processing 600 tonnes per day for the city.
MC counsel Gaurav Mohunta informed the bench of acting chief justice Ritu Bahri and justice Nidhi Gupta that bids had been floated in December 2023 and three bidders had come forward, but were disqualified. Now, the fresh bids have been invited and the last date for submission is February 8.
Aimed at effectively tackling the city’s daily waste generation of 550 metric tonnes (MT), the new plant, with a capacity of 600 tonnes per day, is proposed to comprise three facilities – one each for dry, wet and horticulture waste.
Spread over 20 acres, it will be set up on a part of the Dadumajra landfill after clearing the area and as per current proposal, the project will be allotted for a total of 17 years, including two years for construction, and 15 years for operation and maintenance.
The information was given during resumed hearing of a 2016 PIL, seeking removal of legacy waste at Dadumajra and to address allied issues pertaining to waste management in the city.
The court while deferring the hearing instructed the petitioners to submit expert solutions to resolve the waste management problem that has plagued the dumping ground for over a decade.
During the hearing, city-based advocate Amit Sharma, who had filed another PIL in the matter in 2021, pointed out how he had found over 150 handwritten corrections in financial estimates amounting to crores in the detailed project report (DPR) submitted by the MC to the court. He also pointed out that the IIT professor who had signed the DPR was an assistant professor in the electrical engineering department, not an expert in civil engineering crucial for solid waste management.
Sharma also submitted that MC failed to consult the 2016 Solid Waste Management Manual prepared by the Government of India while approving the project worth over ₹400 crore.
The court, while deferring the hearing, asked the petitioners to submit a comprehensive list of cities that had followed the manual and sought expert opinions for the proposed tender before the next hearing.