A high-level committee of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has given the green light to the waste treatment plant to be constructed here by the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD). This development is expected to give a boost to the execution of the Rs 24.6 crore solid waste management project under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) at a time when the Swachh Bharat mission is set to be launched across the nation on October 2 with the aim of improving the level of sanitation and addressing other issues.
About 200 metric tonnes of solid municipal waste is generated daily in Dehradun with not all of it ending in the trenching ground at Sahastradhara Road. This trenching ground has already reached its maximum capacity and the stench and other problems have led those living nearby to protest on more than one occasion. Under the JNNURM funded solid waste management project, the MCD had planned to set up a waste treatment plant and landfill on about 20 acres land at Shishambada outside the municipal limits. However, the construction of this facility has been pending for years due to lack of environmental clearance. The MCD's Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Harak Singh Rawat presented the corporation's stand on this issue at the high level committee meeting on Monday. With the committee approving the construction of the plant, the MCD expects to get the written clearance for construction of this plant in about a fortnight.
Though door-to-door collection of garbage is being undertaken in the city under the SWM project, the collected waste is not segregated into biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste. Once the waste treatment plant and other planned facilities are constructed, the MCD plans to segregate the waste to use the biodegradable waste for making manure. Improper garbage disposal is one of the major reasons for the deteriorating environment in Dehradun.