A SOLID WASTE
Civic standing panel puts Deonar site plan on hold…….Sharad Vyas
Mumbai: Corporators on Monday dealt a blow to Mumbais chances to close the 127-hectare dumping ground at Deonar and converting it into a green belt.
Setting aside fears that the dumping sitethe citys oldest and biggesthas just six more years of lifespan, the BMC standing committee deferred the ambitious project of partial closure of the yard and converting the remaining land into a sanitary landfill site, which was supposed to be conducted through a public-private partnership. The project cost has been estimated at Rs 5,500 crore over 25 years.
Members of the standing committee have now demanded fresh tenders on the grounds that the existing format, which involves payment of an annual tipping fee of Rs 44 crore for disposing of and processing 2,000 metric tonnes of garbage every day, is not sustainable.
This, officials said, not only had put a spanner in BMCs plan to set up an efficient solid waste management system, but would also delay the project by at least a year. On one hand, we are fighting a battle against activists vehemently opposing the Kanjurmarg waste site and on the other, we have greedy corporators, who for their vested interest, have stalled a crucial project. Where will the citys waste go from here with the corporation already struggling to find alternative sites? asked a senior BMC official.
On Monday, the administration submitted a revised plan with a new cost, which is Rs 900 crore less. However, the Shiv Sena and the BJP, the ruling parties at the civic body, were not convinced by the new proposal.
Sena and BJP members raised questions on why the corporation should pay the tipping fee of Rs 625 per metric tonne garbage, now reduced to Rs 550 in the new proposal.
Challenging the allegations, the BMC administration argued that the fee was much lower than what is being charged in other major cities of the world. Despite this, the project does not look sustainable to corporators, said a senior civic official. The officials have been maintaining that if the tipping fee for the Kanjurmarg dumping ground was less than that for the Deonar site, it would ensure the same for Deonar.
But not everyone agrees. The plan is an eyewash. As the dump is close to the Vashi creek, it is governed by the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules and any construction there will violate rules that are there to protect coastal areas, said a member of standing committee.