Tenders shortly to clear 7 lakh tonnes of legacy waste; Rs. 59 crore, 16 month project

Mysuru: The controversial Solid Waste Management Unit (Excel Plant) at Sewage Farm, Vidyaranyapuram which has been inviting the wrath of local residents, thanks to the foul smell emanating from the rotting waste, will soon be cleared under Swachh Bharat Mission and Rs. 59 crore has been sanctioned, said Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha.

He was speaking at the District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committees (DISHA) meeting held at the office of Deputy Commissioner this noon.

“Tenders will be called within a week and henceforth there will be no garbage politics. We will put an end to politics over garbage and will provide relief to residents who have been suffering for years. We tried our best to clear the seven lakh tonnes of legacy waste that has been dumped over the last 30 years,” he said.

Despite much planning, cost allocation and earlier tenders and proposals, the waste clearance project had not taken off. Concrete efforts began only in 2019 when V. Somanna was the District Minister. Due to factors like methodology, re-assessment and other hurdles complicated by petty politics, the waste had remained as-is for four long years,” the MP claimed. 

“This has been a long-pending demand from the residents of the areas including J.P. Nagar, Kanakagiri, Gundu Rao Nagar, Vidyaranyapuram and Vishweshwaranagar and we will get this work done. Funds has been sanctioned under Swachh Bharat Mission and the proposal has been cleared by the Urban Development Department after getting approval from the Government at various stages. Work will begin soon after the tenders are finalised,” Simha said.

Over 500 tonnes of waste generated in the city on a daily basis will henceforth be moved to the Solid Waste Treatment & Recycling Plants at Kesare and Rayanakere. Vidyaranyapuram will be made free of the legacy waste which will be cleared through bioremediation (biomining), the MP added.

Commenting on the nature of works and the timeline, Mysuru City Corporation Commissioner G. Lakshmikantha Reddy told the meeting that the project timeline is of 16 months and that can be extended to 22 months including monsoon.

The Excel Treatment Plant, Vidyaranyapuram was set up under JnNURM Project in 1996 and solid waste is treated to produce compost. However, tonnes of garbage go untreated. Residents said that the animal carcass and other waste from slaughterhouses were dumped directly into the plant, leading to unbearable stench.

MMC&RI centenary

Another topic that was discussed at the meeting was the centenary celebrations of the Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMC&RI). Dean Dr. K.R. Dakshayini told the meeting that the centenary of the iconic institution will be celebrated in Aug. 2024.

“We will begin preparations for the centenary in Sept. 2023 and we are hoping that all the repair and renovation works of K.R. Hospital and Cheluvamba Hospital attached to the MMC&RI are completed. The State Government had released Rs. 89 crore for the renovation works that are being taken up in phases”, added Dakshayini. MLAs T.S. Srivatsa, K. Harish Gowda and Darshan Dhruvanarayan, DC Dr. K.V. Rajendra and ZP CEO K.M. Gayathri were present.