The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is taking proactive steps to prevent untoward incidents at its Dhapa garbage dumping ground in the wake of the recent land subsidence in Howrah’s Belgachia Vagar area. The KMC will spend Rs 21 lakh to procure water sprinkler vans in a bid to prevent random fires due to the build-up of methane gas at the site.
The civic body will also take measures to process and recycle the garbage that has accumulated on the ground. Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim had recently visited the Dhapa site to take stock of the situation.
Last month, the subsidence in the Belgachia landfill area caused a water pipeline to burst, leaving many without water for days. Multiple houses and an anganwadi centre also reported cracks in their structures. Soon after, the eastern bench of the National Green Tribunal directed the Howrah Municipal Corporation to file a status report on the matter by May 23.
According to sources in the civic body, sprinkler vans with a capacity of 9,000 litres each will be brought in. Sprinklers will also be installed in KMC’s existing vehicles. These sprinklers will be able to spray 3,000 litres of water per minute up to a distance of 80 metres.
The sources further added that as part of the pilot project, six battery-operated payloaders of 1.5 tonnes each will also be used to dump the waste into compactors. A thermocol-processing plant of one tonne-capacity has also been set up and the waste will be processed to create new items. A 100-tonne material recovery facility will help to help segregate the waste, sources in the municipality said.
According to the statistics provided by sources in the municipality, about 1,500 tonnes of waste is recycled out of the nearly 4,000 tonnes dumped daily at Dhapa. The sources said the civic body is trying to augment its recycling capacity to 4,000 tonnes per day.
The Dhapa dumping ground, which is next to the EM bypass, sees the dumping of waste from Kolkata city and adjoining areas, including Bidhananagar, Nabadiganta Industrial Township and Panihati municipality areas. Geology experts have already advised KMC that it must reduce the quantity of garbage piling up here and look for ways to draw out the methane to avoid fires and possible explosions. They also advised the civic body to find another location instead of increasing the burden on Dhapa.