Paradip, June 8: The World Bank-funded solid waste management project under Integrated Coastal Zone Management Programme in this port town is still a non-starter.

A 50 acre-stretch of land required for the project is yet to be handed over to the urban local body for implementation of the project.

The Rs 16-crore project has been delayed because of non-availability of land. For the past two years, the project has failed to move an inch as the state government and the Paradip Port Trust are locked up in a dispute over the ownership of the land.

“The dispute over allotment of land for the project has ended. A 50-acre patch in Bhitargada has been identified. The Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation owned it. PPT had laid claim over the plot and moved the Orissa High Court. However, the port authorities withdrew the claim and approved the land for solid waste management use. The land is now under the possession of the revenue department,” said additional district magistrate Surajit Das.