The CMDA and Bidhannagar Municipality are going in for a first-ever joint venture in solid waste management.

The site has been chosen at Mollar Bheri, off Salt Lake?s Sector V. At present, waste is dumped there and the spot resembles a mountain of garbage.

Under the project, the waste will be turned into manure. ?Nearly 60 per cent of the township?s vegetable waste will be processed this way,? explained a CMDA official. The project will come up on three acres, at a cost of approximately Rs 4.22 crore, he added.

Work will start this year-end and will be completed in about one-and-a-half years. The land will be provided by Bidhannagar Municipality and the CMDA will provide the funds. Last week, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the chairman of Bidhannagar Municipality and the CMDA.

Hailing the ?unique nature? of the project, Bidhannagar Municipality chairman Biswajiban Mazumdar pointed out: ?The project will benefit a large number of people, but it still requires clearance from the pollution control board. If the nod is withheld, we?ll have to scout for another site.?