AGARTALA, July 2 (TIWN): The Agartala Municipal Corporation is expecting to operationalize its first solid waste plant at Debendra Chandra Nagar in the outskirts of the city by the end of July, a highly placed official in the Corporation said here today.

“Work is nearing completion at Debendra Chandra Nagar for setting up the first scientific solid waste management plant. The work of the compost plant and sanitary landfill is in progress and procurement of machines and equipments is almost complete. The work is expected to be completed by the end of this month”, the official said. A total project cost of Rs. 16.50 crore was earmarked for the project by the municipal authorities.

“We are planning to introduce auto-tipper in the door-to-door collection in three thousand households in specific areas as a pilot project for direct disposal of waste to the dumping ground after collecting the waste from individual households. This effort will certainly add to the effort of reducing the additional utilization of the vehicle which in turn would reduce fuel consumption”, the official said.

Extension of city area and rise in city population since the alleviation of the Agartala Municipal Council to the Agartala Municipal Corporation enhanced then generation of municipal solid waste which needs regular disposal to make the city area livable, healthy and clean by implementation of modern and automated solid waste management.

The Corporation authorities recently procured ten 8 cum refuse compactors, three 14 cum refuse compactors, four skid steer loaders, two de-silting machines alongwith four dumping tanks, crawler excavators and allied equipments like loaders to improve the transportation for the sewerage and waste collection system.

In an effort to free the city area from frequent water-logging during rains, the Corporation authority is currently using de-silting machines and dump tanks. Sweeping machines would be put in operation in the important VIP roads replacing the manual sweeping job, the official added.