The Andhra Pradesh government has ruled out shifting the Jawaharnagar dumping yard near here, but has launched a search for four other places to dispose of the garbage generated every day.
Expressing concern over the rise in the quantum of garbage and problems faced in disposing the waste, Municipal Administration Minister Anam Ramnayaran Reddy said it was difficult to shift the Jawaharnagar yard spread over 339 acres in Ranga Reddy district.
REEL roped in
Nevertheless, efforts were on to rope in Ramky Environmental Engineers Limited (REEL) to step up work on its solid waste management disposal plant to ease the situation. Responding to a short notice question tabled by BJP member G. Kishan Reddy in the Assembly on Tuesday, Mr. Ramnarayan Reddy said 188 acres had been identified near Adibhatla in Ranga Reddy district, 723 acres in Malkapur (Nalgonda district), 100 acres in Dundigal and another 80 acres in Medak district to set up new dumping yards.
Admitting that people residing in the surrounding villages of Jawaharnagar were facing hardships, the Minister said proposals to the tune of Rs. 345 crore had been forwarded to the Centre to seek funds from the Jawaharlal Nehru, National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) to develop solid waste management plants.
Mr. Kishan Reddy, N. Jayaprakash Narayan (LSP) and K. Laxma Reddy (Congress) complained that the Jawaharnagar yard had turned into a nightmare for the locals. D. Sudhir Reddy (Congress) wanted four new dumping yards in four directions of the city.
The Minister said that in the last eight years the government had taken steps to close down four existing dumping yards in and around the city after the Jawaharnagar yard became operational. He said that as per present estimates, 59.08 lakh metric tonne garbage is collected annually from the twin cities alone.
He pointed out that the city’s population would touch 2.39 crore in 2036 when 21 lakh metric tonnes of garbage would be collected every day. To meet such a situation, state-of-the-art solid waste management plants had been planned, he added.
