In a major step towards helping raise the cleanliness index of the city, the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) is set to eliminate the huge mounds of waste of nearly 2 lakh tonnes that have piled up at the landfill site over the last 15 to 20 years.
The bulk of it is accumulated at the existing sewage farm in Vidyaranyapuram which spanned many a protests by the local residents due to foul odour emanating from it and even affected the real estate market in the area.
MCC Health Officer D.G. Nagaraju told The Hindu that the formalities for calling the tenders have been completed and is set to be awarded in due course. “Though the project component will run for 18 months, we want to complete clearing the legacy waste that goes for landfill in 10 months,” he added.
The plan is to install machinery for segregation of waste, convert a portion of it to compost that can be used for horticulture or agriculture and pack the remaining as refuse-derived fuel (RDF) for use in cement factories, according to Dr. Nagaraju.
The recycling machinery can process around 200 tonnes a day, but the capacity will be increased to handle additional load so as to complete the entire exercise within a year, or 10 months. The entire exercise will be similar to what the local administration of Indore did to get rid of nearly 15 lakh tonnes of legacy waste in less than two years. “This is the only way forward to recycle what is possible, convert the bulk into compost and send the remaining material as RDF to cement factories,” said the health officer.
Mysuru, which has been ranked the third cleanest city in the country has a few black spots of which the mountain of garbage at the sewage farm poses the biggest challenge and is now set to be addressed.
A section of elected representatives, led by district in charge Minister G.T. Deve Gowda, S.A. Ramdas, Krishnaraja MLA, accompanied by Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G. Sankar and others visited the site to apprise themselves of the situation. Mr. Deve Gowda said the tenders will be finalised in this month and additional machinery will be installed to clear and process the garbage pile.
Officials expressed confidence that once the waste is cleared, Mysuru will be free of untreated garbage and there will be no more fresh accumulation as two more waste treatment and recycling plants are set to come up, one at Kesare and other Rayanakere. These will be in addition to the eight zero waste management sites that are functioning.
