BHUBANESWAR: Struggling with space constraints to store processed waste at the temporary transit station (TTS) near Sainik School, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) is looking for potential buyers for the tonnes of good earth generated at the site.
Sources said the civic body has also sent a sample of processed waste to OUAT to check its quality and ascertain appropriate use. A BMC official said after processing of over 2,000 tonne of waste at the TTS, where an artificial hill of garbage has become an eyesore for everyone drawing sharp criticism from different quarters, around 30 per cent, approximately 600 tonne, of processed garbage and good earth has been generated.
While the refuse-derived fuel (RDF) waste is being dispatched to a cement factory, handling the good earth has become a major task for the civic body, the official said.
The good earth materials accumulated at the TTS is required to be disposed of at frequent intervals to maintain adequate space at the site. Accordingly, an expression of interest has been invited from potential buyers who can purchase it from BMC. The equipment and machinery required for loading of the good earth to vehicles will be provided by the civic body, he said.
Besides, the good earth can be used for various other purposes including enriching of soil, filling of low-lying areas subject to their quality for which the sample has been sent to OUAT.The civic body is in the eye of storm over piling up of the waste at the site that has now grown into a garbage hill. In November last week, it had set a fresh target to speed up the waste processing and flatten the trash hill within four months.BMC officials said apart from two sets of trommel and as many mobile waste screening machines, another machine has been pressed into service recently to expedite the process.