Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) Commissioner Akshy Sridhar on Thursday said the corporation will attempt to ensure the work on clearing about nine lakh tonnes of legacy waste through bio-mining at the Pachchanady dumping yard gets completed in two working years.
The selected agency—National Federation of Farmers’ Procurement and Processing and Retailing Cooperatives of India Ltd. (NACOF), a multi-State cooperative society—has already put in place the plant and machinery at the location that would be commissioned in a week.
The agency was expected to complete the work in two full years, or four working years (as Mangaluru receives rains for about six months a year) at an estimated cost of ₹56 crore. “We would offer financial incentives to the agency to complete the work in two working years,” Mr. Sridhar told reporters at the ‘Meet the Press’ programme organised by Dakshina Kannada Union of Working Journalists here.
Asked about the solid waste management plan for the city as the existing contract ends by January, Mr. Sridhar said the corporation was awaiting clearance from the government for the two detailed project reports submitted by MCC. The government was planning to choose some of the best practices mentioned in the two DPRs and formulate one scheme, he said.
Unauthorised banners
He said the corporation would form a task force to identify unauthorised banners and hoardings and get them removed. Unauthorised banners would also affect the revenues of the corporation besides causing nuisance to residents.
Responding to the continued use of single-use plastic material, particularly carry bags, by commercial establishments, Mr. Sridhar said the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board was targeting manufacturers of such items across the State. Focusing on individual establishments may not be a workable solution, he said.
Association president Srinivas Nayak Indaje and general secretary Jitendra Kundeshwara were present.
