BHOPAL: Endless wait for clean-up of state capital's garbage dumping yard at Bhanpur will come to an end on Friday.
The civic body aims at recovering two-thirds of the 36-acre landfill site - a cause of concern among greens because of contaminants- in next five years. Over the years, environmentalists and activists drew attention to health hazards to residents living in nearby areas of the dumping yard.
Rs 55.38 crore was finalised and work is allotted to a private company in the state capital on Wednesday, going by Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC).
From January 5, Bhanpur landfill site been closed to start clean-up work and a new landfill some 15 km away AdampurChhawni will begin. The BMC move comes after National Green Tribunal (NGT) directive. Spread over some 57.5 acres, it is estimated that 36 acres has been filled with garbage and can be reclaimed in five years. In 2016, BMC commissioner had claimed an urban forest could be developed in five to seven years using new techniques against an average of 65 years. Simultaneously, the BMC had then called for a proposal for Bhanpur area for plantation. Some 50,000 trees would be planted by the civic body as per its announcement.
As per the agreement with the private company , clearing dump and recapping with green cover would be completed by 2023. Tender document also hinted at creating green cover that would be suitable as a golf course.
Bhanpur has been trenching ground for four decades. The dump is 80-feet high and ground-water is up to 500 metres below. Activists have for long demanded addressing the problem of heavy metals and other contaminants causing air and ground water pollution before green cover comes up at Bhanpur.
Proposed new landfill site at AdampurChhawni it expected to be fully operational with an integrated solid waste management facility by the end of 2018.