VIJAYAWADA: Residents of Ajith Singh Nagar are about to be relieved from the foul smell emanating from the dumping yard surrounding their locality as the works for ‘Biomining Project’, commissioned to be developed on the premises of Excel Plant, are going on at a brisk pace. The firm entrusted with the task has recently cleared garbage piled up in 10 out 0f 32 acres of land, and handed over the cleared land to the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC).
According to civic body officials, the 59 divisions generate 550 metric tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) per day, which is dumped at the Excel Plant. Around 2.5 lakh tonnes of unprocessed garbage has accumulated at the 32-acre dump yard in Ajith Singh Nagar. On several occasions, residents complain of respiratory problems which are caused due to toxic fumes that emanate when the garbage is burnt.
To put an end to the garbage menace, the VMC had come up with the idea of setting up a biomining project. It signed an MoU with Kumbakonam-based Zigma Environ Solutions in November 2017, and a month later, IT Minister Nara Lokesh laid the foundation stone for the project, estimated to be completed at `14 crore, at the Excel Plant. However, the firm entrusted with the task commissioned the works this July and the estimated project cost escalated to `24 crore.
VMC executive engineer, ASN Prasad, said that the Zigma company has till now treated 35,000 metric tonnes of MSW. It has treated 700 metric tonnes of garbage everyday using advanced machinery. As part of executing the project, the firm segregates the plastic, rubber, metals and glass waste, he said. When asked about the deadline for the project, Prasad said that it would be completed by March 2019 at any cost.