MCC proposes biomining to clear slid garbage at Pacchanady

The Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) is waiting for approval from a technical advisory committee of the Directorate of Municipal Administration to use the biomining technique to clean the garbage that had slid during the last monsoon at its landfill site at Pacchanady.

The garbage slide had affected 24 families which are currently provided shelter at a KHB apartment near Kudupu. The garbage slide had covered 13.5 acres of horticultural and private land apart from revenue land. The MCC has sent the detailed project report to the Directorate of Municipal Administration.

The biomining technique will be used as per the guidelines of legacy waste management prepared by the Central Pollution Control Board. The Directorate of Municipal Administration will place MCC’s proposal before a high-powered body set up by the state government. The sliding has shifted around six lakh tonnes of garbage on to 25 acres of land which includes 13.5 acres of private land and rest on revenue land.

Environment engineer Madhu Manohar said, “According to the primary report, Rs 16.20 crore is required to clear the garbage using the biomining technique. Once the proposal gets approved by the technical committee, it will be placed before the MCC council for approval.”

After getting approval from the Directorate of Municipal Administration, it will be sent to the government seeking funds for the project.

Following the garbage sliding, 24 houses, crops, like arecanut, coconut, a nine-acre land and two small places of worship were damaged.

Rs 14 crore released as compensation

The government has released Rs 14 crore to compensate families that lost their properties and crops in the sliding of garbage at Pacchanady, the landfill site of Mangaluru City Corporation.

Mangaluru City South MLA D Vedavyas Kamath said the Urban Development Department has released the funds to the MCC.

MLAs and MP Nalin Kumar Kateel had submitted a memorandum to the government seeking compensation to the tune of Rs 20 crore to compensate families that lost houses in the garbage sliding tragedy. Accordingly, the government has released Rs 14 crore through a special sanction under the SFC grants of 2019-20. The government has already released Rs 8 crore for the purpose in the past, he said.

The MCC had sent a proposal seeking Rs 22 crore in November 2019 to compensate the affected families. Of the Rs 8 crore released in the past, Rs 4 crore was used for constructing a retaining wall, he added.