Bhubaneswar: The residents of the state capital are now reeling under the stench emanating from the garbage pile rotting at the Temporary Transit Station (TTS), a dumping yard located behind the Sainik School.
Heaps of garbage are creating such a polluted environment that stench pollutes the areas up to 6 to 7 km. At night, this stench is polluting the environment from Bomikhal, Jharpada to Jaydev Vihar, Nayapalli, Mancheswar, Chandrashekharpur and Pahala. It is feared that the residents of the capital city will suffer the same situation as Delhi.
A few days ago, Delhi’s MCD was covered with a huge garbage pile. The entire Delhiites were subjected to the stench smell and the effect of this was observed in the Delhi MCD elections. By promising to remove the piles of garbage, the Aam Aadmi Party defeated the ruling BJP here. Now a similar situation has been created in the capital city of Bhubaneswar. BJP has now raised the issue of garbage by staging a protest near Sainik School.
Now the people of two villages and two settlements in the same area have been protesting against the TTS behind the Sainik school. The people of Gadakana and Rangamatia villages have been protesting since the very beginning. The locals are against the TTS here because of the stench spreading in their village and house and also because BMC is encroaching on their playgrounds and graveyards.
On the other hand, the people of these 2 settlements are worried about the construction going on near the cremation ground between Patrasahi and Dhirakuti Sahi. Here TTS is planning to construct a new building and dump the garbage. Due to this, it will not be possible to reside in these 2 settlements. Resentment is brewing among the people of both the settlements, but fear has silenced them. Even the local public representatives are reluctant to support the people of both the settlements.
On the other hand, the BMC commissioner said that after another 6-7 months, there will be no garbage here. Neither the authorities revealed what the roadmap is, nor did they divulge anything about the construction.
Resentment is Corrosive, and if such resentment keeps brewing there is a risk that the people of Bhubaneswar will suffer the same fate as Delhiites in the coming days.
BMC Commissioner Take Stock Of Legacy Waste Processing
Amid protest against the dumping of waste at TTS, BMC Commissioner Vijay Amuta Kulange today inspected the present situation at the dump yard site. At present, thousands of tons of waste are being segregated daily and during the weekend, 6 to 7,000 tons of waste will be segregated. With the installation of more machines, it is aimed to complete the processing of the waste dumped in TTS within 2 months.
The BMC Commissioner has directed the departmental officers to speed up the waste segregation and processing. During the visit, BMC Additional Commissioner-II Shuchendu Sahu, Departmental staff along DC Sanitation Dr Manoranjan Sahu were present.
Mega Micro Composting Centres (MCC) Near TTS Made Operational
The Mega MCC (Micro Composting Center) near TTS has been made operational and waste processing has been started here. More than 10 tonnes of wet waste is being processed here. By separating Terex and Trammel, the wet waste can be converted into compost in less time.
By the end of December, BMC is hopeful that the waste processing will increase when the mega MCC at Palasuni becomes operational. Once the mega MCC is operational, 300 tonnes of waste can be processed per day.
Currently, 36 MCCs and 22 MRFs are operational, processing 300 tonnes of waste per day. The remaining waste is dumped at TTS. BMC is optimistic that the waste management situation will improve with the functioning of the Mega MCCs.
Waste To Power Project To Make Headway
Four sites in Bhubaneswar have been initially identified that will be used to produce ‘waste to power’ (energy from waste) using bio-mechanisms. The project will be implemented at 4 STPs (Sewage Treatment Plants) in Bhubaneswar. A machine with a capacity of 50 TPD (tons per day) will be installed at 4 STP and the BMC aims to start the work by March 2024.
Mechanical sweeping on 150 km road
The mechanical sweeping of the 80 km road stretch in Bhubaneswar is underway and a private firm has been tasked with the same.
Mainly, while this cleaning is going on in the state highways and national highways, the target is to build more sewer roads in Bhubaneswar.
Keeping this in mind, BMC has proposed to buy three more mechanical sweeping vehicles.
Standing Committee Chairman Biranchi Narayan Mahasupkar said that mechanical sweeping will be done on the city’s total 150 km of roads after completion of the sure road. Also, a proposal has been moved to buy 20 more fogging machines in the Standing Committee meeting on Tuesday.
