Mysuru: Sixty percent of legacy waste accumulated over several years at the Solid Waste Management Unit, popularly known as the Excel Plant, at Sewage Farm in Vidyaranyapuram, has been cleared.

More than six lakh tonnes of municipal solid waste had been dumped at the site for nearly three decades, forming hill-like mounds at several places and triggering widespread resentment among residents of J.P. Nagar, Kanakagiri, Gundu Rao Nagar, Vidyaranyapuram and Vishweshwaranagar.

Residents had complained not only of the foul smell but also of the threat posed to their health and well-being. The clearance of 60 percent of legacy waste has come as a major relief to thousands of residents in the surrounding areas.

Yesterday, Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) Commissioner M.K. Savitha and other officials inspected the site to assess the progress of waste clearance and review the ongoing waste management initiatives.

Four out of six blocks cleared

Speaking to Star of Mysore, MCC Commissioner M.K. Savitha said the bio-mining operations to clear the accumulated legacy waste were progressing steadily and expressed satisfaction with the results.

“The waste was divided into six blocks at the beginning of the project. Of these, nearly 60 percent of the work covering four blocks has been completed,” she said.

The contract for clearing the waste through bioremediation (bio-mining) was awarded in March 2024 to Surat-based D.H. Patel Company.

Contract extended

As the legacy waste clearance contract has been extended, Savitha directed the agency to deploy additional manpower and machinery to speed up the work. She also said that parallel projects under the Swachh Bharat Mission would be taken up along with the ongoing bioremediation work.

Expressing concern over unsegregated waste being brought from neighbouring City Municipal Council and Town Municipal Council areas such as Rammanahalli and Hootagalli due to lack of space at those locations, Savitha made it clear that dumping mixed waste without primary segregation would not be permitted.

She instructed officials and contractors to streamline operations by ensuring that waste is properly segregated at designated collection points before being transported to the site.

Warning that transporting unsegregated waste to Excel Plant would result in continuous accumulation and delay the processing of legacy waste, she directed officials to immediately stop dumping of mixed waste.

Bio-CNG plant

The MCC Chief also reviewed the site identified for the proposed Bio-CNG (Compressed Biogas) plant to be set up by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) at Sewage Farm premises.

MCC has signed a 15-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with BPCL and will supply 150 tonnes of wet waste daily for the production of Bio-CNG.

Land has been temporarily identified for BPCL to establish the facility, where organic waste will be converted into Bio-CNG, helping reduce the overall volume of waste. The project will be implemented on a no-profit, no-loss model, Savitha said.

Public nuisance near K.R. Hospital

Meanwhile, following complaints of public urination and poor parking management along Stone Building Road behind K.R. Hospital on Dhanvantri Road, Savitha assured that she would personally inspect the area and take necessary action to address the problems faced by commuters and market visitors.