With an aim to implement a comprehensive solid waste management (SWM) plan, the Hubballi Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) has prepared a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for a Rs. 38.91 crore project. The funds for this project will be provided by the Union government.
Making a presentation at the corporation’s monthly council meeting here on Saturday, Joint Commissioner C.W. Shakeel Ahmad said that the annual maintenance cost of the SWM project would be Rs. 4.18 crore. The corporation will be able to generate revenue of the same amount by selling the segregated waste, producing vermicompost and other means. The twin cities generate approximately 400 tonne of garbage every day.
He also said that the project envisaged utilising one auto tipper for every 1,000 households in all the 67 wards in the corporation. Initially, 31 auto tippers will be deployed in the wards, where garbage clearance will be done by pourakarmikas.
“The focus will be on segregation of dry and wet waste by the residents. This will make processing of garbage easier. We will have as many as 15 compactors (a machine used to compress the garbage through compaction) – seven in Dharwad and eight in Hubballi,” he said.
Mr. Ahmad said that Bagalkot Cements would procure dry waste generated in the city, while the wet waste would be utilised for making vermicompost. “We hope to earn Rs. 1.4 crore annually by producing 45 tonnes of vermicompost using the wet waste. The revenue we are expecting from selling the dry waste is around Rs. 2.6 crore,” he explained.
Municipal Commissioner Noor Mansoor clarified that as the previous two DPRs were not accepted by the Directorate of Municipal Administration, they had revised the plan thoroughly and were hopeful of getting the green signal this time around.
