It is close to five months, and the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation’s much-hyped development of the integrated municipal solid waste management system to generate power from solid waste is yet to take off.
According to a senior VMC official, after a notification was issued in October last, more than 10 firms had submitted expressions of interest for taking up the project under the public-private-partnership mode.
Everyday, the city generates nearly 500 tons of solid waste, and it is dumped at Jakkampudi, Ajithsingh Nagar and Pathapadu on the fringes. With residents raising objections, it was decided that the VMC would collect, segregate and dump solid waste at the successful bidder’s plant for generation of power. The Infrastructure Corporation of Andhra Pradesh followed up the project, and negotiations were on with bidders over sharing of revenue. But, after the announcement of elections, the project got shelved, the official said.
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The project, which was to be taken up under the Design, Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (DBOOT) method, involved the setting up of infrastructure for processing facilities, secured landfill facility and their operation and maintenance.
The authorities had made it clear that bidders should have prior experience in taking up municipal solid waste management project in an area that has a population of more than five lakh. The bidders were also told to come up with the project design to be analysed and approved by the VMC.