In a growing industrialised urban centre such as Paradip, the need for solid waste management project has been felt since long. The untreated solid waste was emerging as a major source of environment pollution and health hazard here.
However the construction of the Word Bank-funded solid waste treatment plant has failed to make much headway here, even three years after the accordance of approval to the project.
The Rs 46 crore-worth project has hit a roadblock for multiple reasons. First, there was delay in accordance of environment clearance to the project. Later, Paradip port dilly-dallied in providing land required for it, resulting in the inordinate delay. Besides, there was deadlock in the global tender-bidding process. No firm evinced interest in the project.
Now, finally the contract has been awarded and the solid waste treatment unit work at Bhitargada would get under way within a week. The boundary wall building, earth-filing besides laying of new road to the project site has come to an end.
Work for installation of the machinery for waste treatment would begin on a war-footing, and hopefully the project would be ready for commissioning by December 31.
The state-of-the-art solid waste treatment plant would treat and process waste and garbage in a modern way. The plant will have the capacity to treat 40 tonnes of solid waste on daily basis. It will convert the solid waste into compost, which will come to the use of farmers.