We have to push the waste to one side in seven to eight acres:ASCI

Under mounting pressure from different quarters to shift the Kakatiya solid waste management (SWM) park, also known as Madikonda dumpyard, Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC), however, has decided to cap the landfill and develop a park at the site.

Located about 18 km away from Warangal city, the Madikonda landfill has been the only dumpyard for the city from last 30 years. Nearly five lakh tonnes of waste has piled up in about 32 acres of the site due to unscientific disposal practices.Though there is almost hardly any space to dump waste, GWMC is using the area to dump waste as it could not identify any other place for dumpyard. GWMC is generating 270 tonnes to 300 tonnes of waste per day. But only five tonnes to six tonnes of waste is reused, and the remaining goes to dumpyard.

Citing pollution of groundwater and air, health complications and other reasons, residents of surrounding villages – Madikonda, Rampur, Elkurthy, and Narsingaraopalle – have been protesting from last several years for shifting the dumpyard.The issue was also raised in the general body meeting in February this year by Corporator Thotla Raju who wanted immediate shifting of Madikonda dumpyard as it was a health and environmental hazard. It is said that the dumping yard is also emitting significant quantities of methane.

Responding to these developments, GWMC officials wanted to recycle the waste by employing modern technology. However, it was learnt that the waste at the dumpyard is not good enough to be recycled. Following this, experts of Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), which is helping GWMC to maintain sanitation in the city, has proposed to cap the dumpyard instead of transporting the waste to some other location, which is a herculean task.“We have to push the waste to one side in seven to eight acres and cap the waste. We can also turn site into a garden,” said an official of ASCI.

Mayor Nannapuneni Narender told ‘Telanagana Today,’ the estimated cost of the project capping was about Rs 15 crore. “We have also discussed the proposal with MA&UD Principal Secretary Arvind Kumar during a recent visit to Warangal. He has given his consent for the proposal. A request for proposal (RFP) to this effect is being prepared. Once the RFP is finalised, we can go for calling the tenders,” the Mayor added.