Mysore/Mysuru: The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) budget for 2022-23 presented by M.S. Shobha, Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Taxation, Finance and Appeals on Apr. 28, has made certain important announcements for the city including the clearing of legacy waste accumulated at Vidyaranyapuram Sewage Farm (Excel Plant).

If the legacy waste of nearly 3.08 lakh tonnes is cleared, it will drastically improve the cleanliness quotient of the city. The budget proposes to use a biomining process to clear the waste that has piled up over the years, causing unbearable stench. Rs.7 crore has been set aside for the project.

Bioremediation is the best process to clear the waste. It is a process of treating contaminated soil and subsurface material, by altering environmental conditions to stimulate growth of micro-organisms and to degrade the target pollutants.

Though the proposal to clear the legacy waste had been approved by the Government, the project was caught in a quagmire. Once the legacy waste is cleared, an estimated 27 acres of land at Vidyaranyapuram can be reclaimed by the MCC. In addition, it will stop groundwater pollution.

Construction and demolition debris

Another important announcement in the budget is the allocation of Rs. 5 crore for the establishment of a C&D (construction and demolition) waste recycling plant with a capacity of handling 100 tonnes of building debris per day.

Dumping of construction debris is a big issue in less populated places and on Ring Roads. Every day, Mysuru generates over 150 tonnes of C&D waste. People carry such waste in trucks and dump them under the cover of darkness. The dumping usually is carried out in less-populated areas and on the Ring Road. It is difficult to identify such people and bring them to book.

Also, lack of C&D Waste Treatment Plant was one of the factors having a negative bearing on the city in its performance in the Swachh Bharat Survey. The budget has 9.05 acres of land for the purpose at Sathagalli and Rs. 5 crore has been allocated in this budget for the project that is estimated to cost Rs. 15 crore.

Park maintenance

There are 529 parks within the MCC limits and 291 are being maintained after development. Fund shortage and staff crunch are forcing the Corporation not to take up the development of the remaining parks that have not seen any development.

The budget proposes handing over the maintenance of the parks to corporates, industrialists, banks and IT companies. At least 150 parks will be taken up for development under this Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) model. A proposal has been submitted to the Government to keep in abeyance the interest component of arrears pertaining to water tax where the Government has been urged to  announce a one-time waiver of interest on water bill dues of defaulters, who owe payment to MCC. Water bill dues in the MCC has run up to Rs. 220.57 crore, for which Rs. 74.18 crore interest has been levied on defaulters and in an attempt to collect at least the outstanding principal amount, the MCC has sought to lighten the interest burden on the defaulters. If the proposal is accepted, the MCC will be in a position to recover a large portion of the dues.