Chandigarh continues to splurge crores on Dadumajra dump, but no relief to locals

“Approximately 70 tpd of mix or unsegregated waste is being collected daily and manual segregation of this waste is not possible. Therefore, a machinery to segregate the mix waste into dry and wet fractions efficiently is required to be set up,” the MC said.

It added: “such segregated waste shall be transferred to their respective plants for further processing and the said machine is required to be installed at the dumping ground, which will run in two shifts and segregate approximately 100 tpd of mixed waste.”

The machinery shall be installed inside an already existing shed near the 300 tpd composting plant and for installation, some “minor civil works as well as external electrical works are essentially required”, according to the civic body.

According to the details, while supply and installation will cost Rs 4.76 crore, the “minor civil works” will cost Rs 15 lakh and then “electrical works” will add up another Rs 15 lakh. After adding contingency charges (Rs 15.2 lakh), an amount of Rs 5.22 crore will be borne by the exchequer.

Dyal Krishan from Dadumajra told The Indian Express that the civic body is shelling out so much money to treat the waste, but the ground situation remains the same. “I don’t understand why they have made the dump a money-minting facility. Plants after plants, machines after machines are being set up. They speak of crores like paisas. But the ground situation seems to have improved only on papers but for we residents at Dadumajra – the dump, stench everything is the same,” Krishan added.

Chandigarh Mayor Kuldeep Kumar while speaking to The Indian Express said that he will be demanding a record of funds spent on multiple machinery. “ First they said the composting plant will not create smell. Then, they said a fogging machine has to be set up so as to check the odour Funds from public money are being spent. I will be seeking record on the multiple machines set up,” Kumar said.

While the residents of Dadumajra continue to suffer, The Indian Express takes a look at multiple machinery that have been set up and how new ones have also been proposed.

Overhauling defunct plant for Rs 7 crore

After spending crores on running a defunct waste plant, the civic body repaired and overhauled the dysfunctional plant and made in operational in December 2022 for Rs 7 crore, citing that the unit would have a capacity of 200 tpd for dry waste and 120 tpd for wet waste. To upgrade the wet waste processing capacity, construction of additional sheds, laying of floor and drainage was also done for more funds.

Upgradation of composting plant – Another Rs 10 crore

Stating that the wet waste processing capacity needs to be upgraded, another composting plant facility of 300 tpd was also set up at the site (that was recovered after bioremediation of 5 lakh metric tonne). This plant cost about over Rs 8 to 10 crore. Officials stated that it will segregate wet waste collected in the city through the technology of windrow composting.

Horticulture waste plant – Another Rs 3.5 crore

The MC then went on to set up a ‘state-of-the-art’ horticulture waste plant at 3BRD for a cost of over Rs 3.50 crore.

It was stated by the corporation that since Chandigarh being a city of 1,900 parks and gardens, and generates 5 to 20 tpd of horticulture waste in the city during the peak season, a waste plant dedicated for this purpose is required.

“MC in January 2023, set up a horticulture waste processing plant of 30 tpd capacity, based on waste-to-fuel technology producing Bio Briquettes,” the civic body said.

This plant is apart from the composting pits set up at several parks across the city.

Leachate treatment plant also underway

To deal with flowing of leachate, the Chandigarh civic body has floated tender for a leachate treatment plant, costing lakhs. The plant, according to officials will have a capacity of 30 kilolitre of leachate per day.

It also constructed a boundary wall from preventing the flowing of leachate to the nearby houses, and decided to build a drain at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore to plug leachate towards the houses.

C and D waste plant – Rs 5 crore

Not just this, the MC had also set up a Construction and Demolition waste plant also for around Rs 5 crore to deal with the construction and demolition waste.

Rs 33 lakh for a flogging machine

Now, the civic body also said that a fogging plant has to be set up to “control the odour and spreading fragrance” which will approximately cost Rs 33 lakh. An agenda regarding this machine was approved by finance committee on Friday.

Machine for bags, seat covers for Rs 20.47 lakh

The civic body also said a shredder machine for bags, cloth and seat covers was required. And it approved the supply, installation, testing and commissioning of 1 tph shredder machine for bags, cloth and seat covers at the solid waste plant, Sector 25, will be carried out at an estimated cost of Rs 20.47 lakh.

Rs 50 lakh spent to shift waste across the wall

Only to shift the legacy waste lying on the plant premises, the civic body had spent Rs 80 lakh to move 25,000 mt waste just across the wall to the dump.

Rs 100 crore to clear previous dumps

The legacy waste dump of 5 lakh mt was bioremediated and 20 acres of land was recovered, according to the MC, all of this cost over Rs 34 crore.

Stacking and spreading of 896 truck loads of soil was done at the site after the completion of bioremediation work.

Now, the clearing work of another legacy waste dump of 8 lakh mt, spread across 8 acres, also started in November 2022, out of which 7.4 lakh mt has been bioremediated till date for land recovery. This is costing over Rs 68 crore, thereby making the entire project over Rs 100 crore just to clear the legacy waste.

Lakhs spent on minor works

Apart from the aforementioned units and machineries, lakhs have also being spent on minor works involving the dumping ground.