21% funds spent on managing solid waste: Chandigarh admn to NGT

In an affidavit submitted on the behalf of the Chandigarh administration, UT environment director Debendra Dalai said out of ₹611.33 crore budget, ₹132.7 crore have been spent so far

In a status report submitted to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday, the UT administration said 21% of the allocated funds have already been spent on managing the solid waste of the city.

The Chandigarh MC has been dumping the garbage at a dumping ground, spread over 45 acres of land, near Dadumajra colony over the past decades. (HT File Photo)

In an affidavit submitted on the behalf of the administration, director of UT’s department of environment, Debendra Dalai, said out of ₹611.33 crore budget, ₹132.7 crore have been spent so far.

The civic body has been dumping the garbage at a dumping ground, spread over 45 acres of land, near Dadumajra colony over the past decades, due to which two legacy waste mountains of 5 LMT and 7.67 LMT were created covering an area of 20 acres and 8 acres respectively. The processing plant set up also could not help in processing entire waste generated daily.

While giving specifications on the spending, the UT administration said that ₹27.86 crore has been used so far for bio-remediation of 5 LMT legacy waste at the Dadumajra landfill whereas another ₹11.36 crore has been spent (out of the total allocated ₹67.96 crore) on bioremediation of second waste mountain of 7.67 LMT.

₹27.96 crore was spent on construction of three material recovery facilities (MRF) in Dadumajra.

“UT has also spent ₹13.21 crore on developing a new sanitary landfill site. Also, a budget of ₹412 crore has been allocated for the integrated solid waste processing plant, but the amount has not been used so far as the plant is yet to be set up. UT has also allocated funds of ₹457.77 crore for liquid waste management of the city,” the report said.

The report further said that UT has already spent ₹208.8 crore on modification of five sewerage treatment plants (STPs). The city is currently generating around 220 MLD of liquid waste daily, against an available treatment capacity of 250.7 MLD indicating that all the waste water is being treated.