• 1,000 tonnes garbage processed daily
• Surat-based company aims to complete works by January 2026

Mysuru: The works on clearing seven lakh tonnes of legacy waste at Sewage Farm, Vidyaranyapuram in the city, is going on a war-footing. It has been six months since the works were launched in June and are expected to be complete by January 2026. The legacy waste — Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) that has been stored for years in landfills or on barren land — that was lying uncleared for the past 20 years was a bone of contention among many.

Also, the authorities concerned were at the receiving end of the complaints by the tax-paying citizens of nearby localities over the foul smell emanating from the mounds of garbage as well as the threat posed to their health.

Eventually, the works on clearing the waste was handed over to Surat-based Company named D.H. Patel, at an estimated cost of Rs. 59 crore.

Prior to launching the works, the unit was built at the premises of Sewage Farm in March this year. Along with this, the rest area was built for the personnel involved in clearing the waste. Following this, all the preparations were made to start the works without giving room for any hiccup.

Six blocks: The legacy waste is classified into six blocks and among those blocks, 35 percent of the waste has been cleared in block 1. The works on remaining blocks will follow later. 

Two huge machines of Power Screen company are deployed in processing the waste, that will be loaded on to it by an earth- moving machine. The plastic, soil and compost and several other things among them will be thoroughly segregated with the help of the machinery, with a target of clearing 1,000 tonnes of waste daily, with the work lasting for 10 hours in a day.

PPE kits provided

The company has hired 26 workers from different States, who have been given PPE kits to avoid any health hazards, for their continuous exposure to untreated waste. If found unhealthy, they will be subjected to health check-up without any delay.

Once the process of segregating waste is completed, the plastic materials will be sent to cement manufacturing units in Kalaburagi in the State and other parts of the country. The waste that is found fit to be converted into compost will be sent to such units. The soil will be used for the purpose of land filling. Likewise, the types of waste are being reused for various other purposes, said Gopal Singh, Project General Manager.

Waste generation

Daily 500 tonnes of waste are generated in the city, with the facility available to process only 250 tonnes of waste, with the remaining 250 tonnes of waste dumped at Sewage Farm. For the last 20 years, the mounds of waste grew bigger with no immediate solution at sight.

In this backdrop, a revised Detailed Project Report (DPR) for Rs. 59 crore was prepared and submitted to the Government for its approval. Finally, the DPR was approved in a meeting chaired by Chief Secretary to the Government, on the eve of Model Code of Conduct coming into effect in relation to the 2023 Assembly polls.

MLA Srivatsa speaks…

Krishnaraja MLA T.S. Srivatsa said, the uncleared waste at Sewage Farm in Vidyaranyapuram had turned into a political issue, but was finally taken to its logical end with the special emphasis laid by the then District Minister V. Somanna and former Mysuru-Kodagu MP Prathap Simha to address the long-pending issue. The promise made to the residents of J.P. Nagar will be kept by clearing the waste by the end of January 2026, getting rid of the stench emanating from the waste.

Gopal Singh, Project General Manager of D.H. Patel Co., said, the target is to clear waste before January 2026. The segregated waste like Plastic, Soil, Compost among others are being reused.