The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its recent report has pointed out the poor monitoring and abnormal delays in obtaining mandatory clearances for setting up a waste-to-energy plant at the Deonar landfill. Only 10 percent of work on the project was completed by December 2022, the delays will affect the project schedule, said the report.
Report presented by Fadnavis in assembly
A special audit report on BMC, by the CAG, was presented in the Maharashtra legislative assembly by Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Devendra Fadnavis Saturday. The audit also covered the investigation of the ambitious project undertaken by BMC's solid waste management department.
Delays in getting obtaining the mandatory clearances
"The BMC issued a global e-tender for setting up a waste-to-energy project with a capacity of 3,000 tonnes per day. But it was subsequently downsized to 600 tonnes per day. The work was awarded to M/s. Chennai MSW Pvt. ltd at a cost of Rs. 648 crores, while payment of Rs, 49.12 crores till date. However, poor monitoring by the BMC and abnormal delays in obtaining the mandatory clearances are likely to have a significant impact on the project delivery schedule," said the CAG report.
HC had ordred shutting Mulund and Deonar dumping grounds
The city produces around 6,200 tonnes of garbage daily. Dumping grounds in Mulund and Deonar were ordered to shut in 2016 after the High Court observed that they had reached saturation points.
After a major fire in 2015 at the dumping ground, the Central government and the Bombay High Court had ordered the BMC to come up with a scientific plan for waste disposal. The Deonar dumping ground was established in 1927 and is spread across 120 hectares. The oldest landfill in Mumbai has mountains of garbage reaching 18 floors high. So the BMC planned to start a waste-to-energy project in 2016, that will generate 4 megawatts of electricity. But it took years for the BMC to obtain environmental clearances from the Central government. Currently, 5,500 metric tonnes of garbage is sent to the processing plant at Kanjurmarg, and another 700 metric tonnes is dumped in the Deonar dump yard.
