Paradip: The construction of the Word Bank-funded solid waste treatment plant has failed to make much headway here, even three years after accordance of approval to the project.
In a growing industrialised urban centre such as Paradip, the need for solid waste management project has been felt since long.
The untreated solid waste is emerging as a major source of environment pollution and health hazard here.
The Rs 46 crore-worth project has hit a roadblock for multiple reasons. First, there was delay in accordance of environment clearance to the project. Later, Paradip port dilly-dallied in providing land required for it, resulting in the inordinate delay. Besides, there was deadlock in the global tender-bidding process. No farm evinced interest in the project," said the Paradip Municipality's executive officer Dillip Mohanty.
There was fresh tender-bidding, and contract for the job has been awarded to a farm. The deadline for completion of the project has now been rescheduled to December 31, 2018.
"Sources said the solid waste treatment unit work at Bhitargada would get under way within a week. The boundary wall building, earth-filing besides laying of new road to the project site has come to an end. Work for installation of the machinery for waste treatment would begin on a war-footing, and we are very much hopeful that the project would be ready for commissioning by December 31," he said.
The state-of-the-art solid waste treatment plant would treat and process waste and garbage in a modern way. The plant will have the capacity to treat 40 tonnes of solid waste on daily basis. It will convert the solid waste into compost, which will come to the use of farmers, he said.
Huge volume of solid waste that is being generated every day from the port town is being disposed of in a dumping yard on the outskirts of the port township.
As mechanism to treat the waste is conspicuous by its absence, its hazardous effect is largely being felt in the slum localities.
The port town generates 48 tonnes of solid waste and garbage within the municipality jurisdiction every day.
