Kolkata suspends biomining at Dhapa after agency fails to meet deadline
Times of India | 29 March 2025
KOLKATA: Biomining of the 40 lakh tonne of municipal solidwaste (MSW) that had been dumped at Dhapa along the eastern fringes of the city for three-and-a-half decades has been suspended after Kolkata Municipal Corporation cancelled the contract of the agency contracted for the job for failing to meet the deadline.
The company was to have completed the job within three years of the order in 2020 but despite the deadline being extended to 2025, the civic body decided to terminate the contract as only 15 lakh tonne has been biomined till now.
Biomining utilises microorganisms to extract valuable metals from waste materials. A good portion of the biomined waste was being used to produce fertilizer, compressed natural gas and various types of plastic furniture.
A KMC official said it had become necessary to terminate the contract and issue a new tender to continue biomining operations, as the slow pace of biomining was being overshadowed by the rapid rise in waste burden. Dhapa receives around 5,000 tonne of MSW daily from Kolkata, Salt Lake, New Town and Panihati with Howrah adding another 300 tonne everyday.
The KMC official stated that without additional land available for waste disposal, the biomining project would have helped reclaim existing space, which now appears unusable.
The halt in biomining operations presents a significant challenge, particularly as civic authorities anticipated central funding for a modern sanitary landfill site at Dhapa. "We engaged an agency in extracting legacy waste that had been depositing at Dhapa for the past few decades primarily to pave the way for creating a sanitary landfill site within the present dumping ground. We hoped to apply for the central grant after completion of the biomining work for modernization of garbage disposal in Kolkata," said a civic official.
The KMC has submitted a comprehensive proposal to the Centre through State Urban Development Agency (SUDA) to secure central government funding for modernising the city's waste management system. Officials indicate that approximately Rs 1,700 crore would be allocated for phased modernisation, with funding contingent upon completion and rating of each phase.
The release of funds depends on visible progress in modernisation efforts. A KMC official expressed concern that the incomplete legacy waste extraction might hinder this process.
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