Aurangabad, Jan 17:
An unprecedented garbage crisis was created in the city three years ago. To solve the waste problem permanently, the state government sanctioned a Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Rs 148 crore to the municipal corporation. In the last two and a half years, the corporation has received only Rs 72 crore that is 48 per cent of the funds. The remaining Rs 76 crore is awaited by the corporation.
In February 2018, villagers from adjoining villages along with Naregaon residents staged agitation to resolve garbage issue. A riot-like situation had arisen from dumping garbage at Mitmita. After this incident, the state government sanctioned a fund of Rs 148 crore for solid waste management. In the last two and a half years, a 150 MT waste processing plant at Chikalthana was started a year ago. Work on Padegaon, Kanchanwadi and Harsul projects continued to linger for one reason or another. Now a 150 metric tonne capacity plant at Padegaon and a 30 metric tonne biogas plant at Kanchanwadi have been started. All the three projects were inaugurated on Saturday by guardian minister Subhash Desai and environment and tourism minister Aditya Thackeray. On this occasion, administrator Astik Kumar Pandey informed that Rs 72 crore had been received from the sanctioned funds. However, work on the Harsul project is currently in progress. The municipal corporation also wants to process 20 lakh metric tons of waste at Naregaon. Hence the corporation is awaiting funding for the remaining works.