Paradip, Dec. 19: The Rs 18-crore World Bank-funded solid waste management project, under the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Programme, is lying idle here with the required land yet to be handed over to the local municipal body.

Experts from the World Bank inspected the proposed site in Paradip in May. The team gave nod to the project. But, the official hand over of the 50-acre-patch of litigation-free site to meet with the suitability of the plan is yet to be done.

“The project has got delayed because of the land dispute between the state government and the Paradip Port Trust. The port authorities had laid claim over the earmarked site. But, the port trust recently accorded consent for use of the land at New Sandhakuda near Rangiagada. As the ownership of the land was sub judice, it is a matter of time for the land hand over with completion of the legal formalities,” said Paradip additional district magistrate Surajit Das.

The state government-owned Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation possesses 116 acres in Bhitargada.

The port trust has moved court, challenging the acquired land and agreed to withdraw the litigation by filing a petition, said Paradip Municipality executive officer Sarada Prasad Panda.

The Bhitargada patch could be used for the proposed airstrip project, and besides, the World Bank funded waste management plan. The land in Sandhakuda area is earmarked to build up rehabilitation colonies for slum dwellers.