The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has finally accorded environmental clearance to the development of municipal solid waste processing and disposal facility to be constructed under the PPP mode by the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun at Shishambada. This facility to be constructed under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) is expected to considerably improve the level of civic sanitation in Dehradun, said Mayor Vinod Chamoli.
The ministry's Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) had considered this proposal in its meeting on September 29-October 1 after which the MCD received environmental clearance for the project on December 9.
The ministry has set specific conditions like taking consent for establishment from the State pollution control board, realigning the plan in such a way that the waste tipping and processing areas and other project components that generate maximum air and noise pollution is farthest from the habitation and adopting state of the art measures for odour control from the plant.
The waste lying at the existing dumping site at Sahastradhara Road shall be excavated and should be accumulated to the designated place within the site and shall be compacted and closed scientifically after reaching the stipulated height. A green belt minimum 20 metres broad and at least 30 metres from the river highest flood level (HFl) will be developed all along the boundary and the setup shall be constructed at least three metres above the river's HFl.
Construction of the municipal solid waste processing and disposal facility under JNNURM was first approved by the Central Government in 2008 and since then various stages of the work were undertaken though the environmental clearance had been denied earlier.
This Rs24.6 crore project has seen a cost escalation of about 73 per cent (11.67 crore) since 2008. According to the Mayor, after the revised Detailed Project Report is approved by the Centre, the MCD will float tenders for the project. The way has now been cleared for executing this project, said Chamoli.
With about 200 metric tonnes of municipal waste being generated in the State capital daily, environmental clearance to the municipal solid waste processing and disposal facility boosts expectations for an efficient waste management system in Dehradun.