Waste Management: Civil works done at 19 sites, waste compactor systems not installed yet

Tribune News Service

Harshraj Singh

Ludhiana, November 8

Open garbage dumps or secondary garbage collection points located along roads, green belts, near residential zones and markets have become a significant problem in various parts of the city. These dumps are not only causing unpleasant odours and unhygienic conditions but also polluting the soil.

Aiming to eliminate a number of such garbage dumps, the Municipal Corporation’s project to install the waste compactors at 22 locations under the Smart City Mission has experienced delays.

As part of the Smart City Mission, the MC has already issued a work order to procure 63 portable compactors and 26 hook loaders for 22 locations in the city, with an estimated cost of Rs 27.67 crore. Besides, the estimated cost for the civil works under the project is around Rs 13.57 crore.

According to MC officials, the civil works, including the construction of sheds and floors (where compactors will be installed), have been completed at 19 locations, including Books Market, Jail Road, Backside Dental Hospital, Cheema Chowk, Bajwa Nagar, Partap Chowk, Military Camp areas, Dhandari Kalan, Giaspura flats, Bhai Chattar Singh Park, and others. However, the civil works on Metro Road is still in progress and the MC is awaiting a no objection certificate (NOC) from the Mandi Board for civil works in the Dana Mandi and Sabzi Mandi areas. But, waste compactor systems have not been installed at any of the 19 sites where the civil works have been completed.

Satinderpal Singh, who operates a business in the Scooter Market near Bhai Chattar Singh Park, expressed difficulties and unsanitary conditions they had been facing due to an open garbage dump located near their shops. A portion of land has also caved due to the garbage dump. To remove the dump from Scooter Market, the MC constructed a shed in Bhai Chattar Singh Park nearly two years ago for the installation of a waste compactor system. Still, it remains uninstalled, another shopkeeper said.

Furthermore, the people have raised their voices demanding the removal of open garbage dumps situated in multiple locations throughout the city, including near the cremation ground on Daresi Road, outside a recently constructed government school building near Suffian Chowk, at the junction of Jassian Road, outside MC’s Night Shelter on Clock Tower to Deepak Cinema Road, in proximity to Old Courts Chowk, and numerous other areas in the city.

Notably, the first waste compactor system in the city was installed by the MC in 2016 near the Sidhwan Canal bridge on Dugri Road, Ludhiana, but it has remained non-functional for the past few years. The MC has failed to get it fixed so far.

Waste compactor systems have been installed at 10 other locations in the city but by different departments. “The Ludhiana Improvement Trust has installed nine of these waste compactor systems, while GLADA has installed one. The compactor systems at all 10 sites are operational and have been transferred to the corporation by the respective departments,” said an MC official.

Meanwhile, MC officials are also hopeful that the work to install the compactor systems under the Smart City Mission will commence soon. MC’s Joint Commissioner Ankur Mahindroo said the contractor concerned was expected to deliver the waste compactors soon. Once the machinery was received, the work to install the waste compactor system at designated sites in the city would commence.

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