Siliguri: Waste processing unit set up at dumping ground

Initially, 170 metric tons of garbage will be processed daily to make various products, including raw materials for making fertilisers and cement. 

MP, 25 Feb 2024 : Trinamool Congress-led Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) Board has solved the 70-year-old problem of garbage in the city. They have set up a waste processing unit at a dumping ground in the Eastern bypass area in Siliguri. 

Gautam Deb, the Mayor of Siliguri, inaugurated the unit on Saturday. Initially, 170 metric tons of garbage will be processed daily to make various products, including raw materials for making fertilisers and cement. 

Later, 350 metric tons of garbage will be processed in this unit. “This day is significant and historic. A major problem of the city is about to come to an end. Rs 18 crore has been invested for the project. I hope this initiative will be successful,” said the Mayor. 

The Siliguri Municipality was formed in 1949 and in 1955, the municipality started dumping garbage by setting up a dumping ground in the Eastern Bypass under Ward 41. In 1994, the Municipality was elevated to Municipal Corporation. 

As the population gradually increased, localities developed around the dumping ground. On an average, about 350 metric tons of garbage accumulates everyday presently. It increases to 450 metric tons during winter due to vegetable residue. 

Within one-and-a-half years of assuming responsibility, the TMC has removed 3 lakh 78 thousand metric tons of garbage and started the construction of a processing plant on that land. 

Akshay Santaliwala, director of the Managing Committee of Solid Waste Management Processing plant said: “This plant can process raw materials for making fertilizers, cement etc. Slowly, the capacity will be increased.” 

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/siliguri-waste-processing-unit-set-up-at-dumping-ground-553536