Govt to set up 6 waste-to-energy plants across state

Tirupati: In an effort to ensure better garbage handling, the state government has proposed to establish six ‘waste to energy plants’ across the state, said municipal administration and urban development minister P Narayana.

Speaking to the media after a meeting with corporation and TUDA officials on development initiatives, the minister announced that one of the plants would be set up in Tirupati. This plant is designed to handle 650 tonnes of waste daily, offering a permanent solution for effective waste management while also generating energy.

Narayana stated said that the ongoing clearing of accumulated garbage would be completed by October 2nd, coinciding with Gandhi Jayanti. He criticised the previous YSRCP government, saying, “they left 85 lakh tonnes of garbage and also Rs 10 lakh crore in loans on us. Already, 73 lakh tonnes have been cleared, and the remaining will be cleared by October 2. We are struggling to bring the derailed state back on track.” He added that many centrally sponsored schemes were stalled due to a lack of matching grants from the state, and noted that the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had reprimanded the state on multiple occasions.

“Now our priority is to improve the basic facilities in the 120 municipalities across the state and surmount the financial crisis,” he said.

In connection with this, the minister mentioned that safe drinking water would be provided to every household in the municipalities under the Amrut scheme, and he assured that all promises made during the elections would be fulfilled. Regarding Tirupati’s development, he said plans are underway to construct an apartment complex to replace the dilapidated scavengers’ colony. This new housing will benefit the health workers employed by the corporation.

Narayana also stated that a focus would be laid on clearing pending TDR (Transferable Development Rights) bonds in Visakhapatnam, Guntur, and Tirupati, adding that the Settipalli land issue would be resolved soon.

During an earlier official meeting with TUDA officials, the minister directed them to complete pending works, including the TUDA towers, and to work on improving revenue. He also urged TUDA to develop townships to generate more income.

Commissioner N Mourya provided an overview of the ongoing development works in Tirupati, including city sanitation, drainage, and CC roads, and detailed the facilities that would be provided to health workers.

The minister called on officials to speed up development works and told them not to submit reports that ignore ground realities and present only a “rosy picture.”

He also requested that the corporation induct sweeping machines to improve sanitation, following the example of Nellore.

TUDA chairman C Divakar Reddy, Greenery and Beautification Corporation chairperson Sugunamma, deputy mayor R C Munikrishna, joint collector and TUDA vice-chairman Subham Bansal, deputy commissioner Amaraiah, TUDA secretary Dr Srikanth, SEs Krishna Reddy, Syam Sundar, EE Raveendra, ME Thulasi Kumar and Gomati were present at the meeting.