Panchayat rues delay: No progress on garbage units irks villagers

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As part of a detailed plan prepared by the PMC to address the issue of waste processing, the civic administration had tabled a proposal before the PMC standing committee to set up six processing units, four of five tonne capacity each and two of three tonne capacity each, to process 26 tonne of wet waste every day in Bhavani Peth ward office area and four units of five tonne capacity each to process 20 tonne of waste every day in Vishrambaug wada ward office area at a cost of Rs 14.82 crore. A decision on the proposal was twice postponed by the standing committee.

Phursungi village grampanchayat member Ranjit Raskar said that it was not proper to bring in politics in setting up waste processing plants. “PMC corporators should not politicise the issue of starting smaller capacity waste processing plants within the city.

Villagers of Uruli Devachi and Phursungi had withdrawn their agitation after an assurance by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on behalf of the PMC. If the civic body delays the commitment given to the villagers that alternative sites will be found, we too can relaunch the agitation,” he said in a letter to the municipal commissioner.

“The waste processing projects proposed by the civic administration are expensive and we want to explore if it could be done at a lower cost. We are committed to processing the waste within the civic limits but don’t want to spend the civic funds in a hurry,” said NCP corporator Subhash Jagtap, who recently stepped down from the post of Leader of the House at PMC. The PMC is staring at a shortage of funds post the August 1 Local Body Tax scrapping.

Standing committee chairperson Ashwini Kadam said the decision was postponed as several members of the committee raised queries. “We don’t want to take any decision in haste. If the civic administration addresses all our queries, then there will be a faster decision,” she said.

Pune Guardian Minister Girish Bapat expressed displeasure at the delay. “We would ask the municipal commissioner to use his special powers and consider the proposal approved if the standing committee delays the decision any further,” he said.

Joint Municipal Commissioner and head of the solid waste management department Suresh Jagtap said that the proposed processing plants within the city limits are somewhat expensive but are the best answer to the present question of constraints in availability of land.

“The plants would turn waste into compost within 24 hours. PMC has already set up a plant with similar technology and it has given satisfactory results,” he said.