Thursday, 17 November 2022 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Bhopal based agency recently selected by the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) is gearing up to take charge of the operation of the solid waste management and recycling plant in Sheeshambada by the weekend. The new agency will be replacing the Hyderabad based company, Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited (REEL) that has been managing the plant for over four years. In these years, REEL has failed to tackle the disposal issue of hundreds of metric tonnes of refuse derived fuel (RDF) accumulated in the plant.
However, the new company has been directed to ensure the regular disposal of the RDF as per the agreement. The officials said that the new agency is also planning to up the sale of manure to generate monthly revenue. REEL, which also manages the door to door garbage collection service besides the waste management plant announced its departure in August after the corporation refused to comply with its terms like increase in the rates of its services by MCD and approval for establishment of waste to energy plant in Sheeshambada.
The MCD officials expressed their dissatisfaction with REEL’s work quality and asked them to make improvements in their work before expecting any raise. They also refused for the establishment of a waste to energy plant stating it to be against the rules. Considering this, REEL decided to leave the projects under MCD and the corporation floated its first tender to appoint a new agency in September. After four out of five companies failed to meet MCD’s criteria, it floated the second tender in October and shortlisted two Mumbai based and Bhopal based agencies. Though the expert team of the corporation gave a clean chit to both companies in their respective physical inspections, the Bhopal based agency was finally selected due its proposed lower rates for the disposal of garbage than the other agency.
The chief municipal health officer Dr Avinash Khanna informed that the transition process is underway between REEL and the selected agency regarding the operation of the Sheeshambada plant. The agency officials are conducting meetings with officials concerned to ensure the smooth transition before they commence the work by the end of this week. He said that the corporation will also select a new agency to carry out door to door garbage collection services in 47 wards within a week too.
