The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Vijayawada News : VMC can't find a yard to dump garbage

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 13, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada

VMC can't find a yard to dump garbage

By K.N. Murali Sankar

VIJAYAWADA, APRIL 12. One might be surprised to know that a city of Vijayawada's magnitude doesn't have a designated garbage-dumping yard. Even five years after the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules of the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) came into force, the VMC has done precious little to identify a convenient dumping site.

Stipulations

According to the rules, every municipality and municipal corporation should find a suitable location for a dumping yard and it should be at least one kilometre away from residential areas and 20 km from airport.

The municipal corporations have to appoint a site selection committee with the District Collector as the chairman and representatives of the Corporation and Urban Development Authority as members. The committee has to select the site that will be able to absorb an increasing quantity of garbage in the next 25 years.

While municipalities like Gudivada, Nuzvid, Jaggayyapet and Machilipatnam have already identified the sites, the VMC is yet to appoint the site-selection committee.

About 600 metric tonnes of garbage is being collected from the residential areas in the corporation daily.

It is diverting over 400 metric tonnes to Shriram Energy Systems Limited and Excel Power Plant, for power generation from solid waste.

The remaining 200 metric tonnes is being dumped at Autonagar, Ajitsingh Nagar, Kabela, Milk Factory and Bhavanipuram. However, none of these sites are designated dumping yards.

No response to notices

"We have sent several notices to the VMC in the last four years. But, there has been no response. Even if the Corporation is planning to divert the entire garbage collected from the city to power plants, it should have a designated dumping yard," the Regional Environmental Engineer of the APPCB, I.A. Prasad, told The Hindu on Monday.

According to the guidelines of the APPCB, the municipalities, which could not designate dumping yards, will have to file an authorisation (Form-1) with the PCB explaining reasons for non-completion of the work. "The VMC is yet to file the Form-1," Mr. Prasad said.

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