BHUBANESWAR: The much awaited bio-mining project of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), scheduled to start from May 3, has been put on hold indefinitely as locals have been opposing regular unloading of solid waste at the dumping site.
An official from the Corporation said though they are sensitising villagers about the benefit of the project, the matter is yet to be resolved.
"A sensitisation meeting was conducted on Thursday. However, it remained unfruitful. The locals have been demanding complete ban on further dumping of waste at the site," the official from the sanitation wing of the Corporation said.
The BMC has planned to invest Rs 103 crore for the bio-mining project to process 16 lakh tonne waste at the site. At least 2,000 tonne of waste will be processed at the site on daily basis to complete the project in 36 months.
Two agencies, Jagruti and Jan Adhar Sevabhavi Sanstha, will carry out the bio-mining at the dump yard as a joint venture (JV) for which an agreement has also been signed by them with BMC on February 23.
Following a meeting chaired by Mayor Sulochana Das last month, the Civic body had decided to start the project on May 3. BMC officials said the agencies have completed all the ancillary activities such as procurement of machinery, construction of site office, testing and survey works.
Besides, testing of ambient air quality, groundwater condition and soil condition of the dumping site and has also been completed, they said. Sources said the civic body is planning another round of meeting with the villagers to pursue them to withdraw their protest to start the project at the earliest.