Kolkata: Yet to find way out of mess

With the only landfill almost filled to its capacity, garbage management in the city has hit a roadblock as the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has been struggling for the past few years to find and set up another landfill site.

According to KMC sources, the city generates about 4,500 metric tonnes of solid waste per day from its 144 wards. But the bulk of the waste is not segregated as per the guidelines mentioned in the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 and is mainly dumped in Dhapa, the city’s only landfill.

Located in the eastern fringes of the city, the site, which spreads over across 50 hectares, has been functional since 1980. But in the past decade, the site has been reaching its capacity and due to the lack of proper garbage disposal, sections of it are often being incinerated in violation of the rules.

The burning of trash which includes items such as plastic and rubber leads to the production of toxic fumes and contributes to a significant amount of air pollution and stench.

While sources told DH that a site has been found at Rajarhat, they say that the issue may still take more than a year to be resolved.

“We have identified the land at Rajarhat and the issue is being processed. We have also floated a tender for the purpose and are hopeful that the process will be completed by next year,” said Subhashish Chatterjee, DG (solid waste management) of KMC.

Meanwhile, segregation of waste at source has only been started in eight wards where residents have been provided green buckets for biodegradable waste and white buckets for non-biodegradable waste.