Trash order bites dust at Gardanibagh landfill site

Patna: Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) has failed to implement the Patna High Court’s order to clear the garbage at its secondary landfill site near Gardanibagh Hospital. The district administration’s instruction in this regard too has been ignored.

PMC commissioner Keshav Ranjan Prasad had earlier told The Telegraph that it was planning to shift the secondary landfill site from near Gardanibagh Hospital to some other place.

According to sources, the PMC authorities had even shot off a letter to the district administration for identification of land for this purpose but so far, no land had been earmarked to shift the secondary landfill site. Heaps of garbage dumped at the secondary landfill site had drawn criticism from all the corners because it is situated close to the Gardanibagh Hospital. Hospital authorities and patients time and again have complained about the regular stench emanating from the filth.

Monday was no better. The Telegraph found mounds of garbage lying at the secondary landfill site near the hospital. PMC workers who were found dumping garbage at the site from trucks that was collected from various wards of the New Capital circle, said: “At any point of time, you would find five to six tractors dumping garbage over here. We have not been able to bring down the garbage level to zero.”

The executive officer of New Capital circle of PMC, Shailesh Kumar, said they had not been able to ensure zero garbage at the site due to the ongoing de-silting work of the big drains. “Silt removed from big drains such as Kurji, BMP and Serpentine Road is being dumped at the secondary landfill site near the hospital first and then it is being taken to the primary landfill site at Ramchak Bairaiya,” said Shailesh.

“It is impossible for us to take the silt removed from drains directly to the primary landfill site. We need to dump it at the secondary landfill site first. The secondary site will be made garbage-free when the de-silting work is over,” he added.

The executive officer said: “Altogether, 14 vehicles have been engaged in dumping and transporting garbage from the Gardanibagh landfill site. Earlier, there were only eight. However, we also have to engage the vehicles in the drain-de-silting related work as we have shortage of vehicles. This has also affected our plan of making Gardanibagh-based landfill site garbage-free.”

Sources said that Solid Waste Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000, said there was no concept of secondary landfill site. “The rules say that there should be segregation of waste at source. This means, dry and wet waste has to be segregated right after collection of garbage from homes and further initiative has to be taken to make compost from the collected waste. There is no concept of secondary landfill site,” said a senior official of PMC.

Courtesy: The Telegraph