Shimla garbage stinks in City Beautiful

One is called the 'City Beautiful' and the other is the 'Queen of the Hills'. But Chandigarh and Shimla are currently battling it out for a completely different thing - garbage. Several tonnes of garbage from Shimla are being transported to Chandigarh since early this week following an order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that the garbage be processed at a 500-tonnes-per-day incinerator here.

But the move is raising a lot of stink in Chandigarh with the municipal corporation objecting to garbage from elsewhere being brought to the City Beautiful. The Chandigarh MC commissioner, Bhawna Garg, has written to her Shimla counterpart objecting to the city's garbage being sent here. In her letter, Garg has pointed out that the NGT order was passed without involving the Chandigarh MC.

She has urged the Shimla MC commissioner not to send garbage till October 13, the next date of the NGT hearing. Taking cognizance of the NGT order, Chandigarh MC officials are preparing to approach the NGT to seek the city's inclusion in the case and give it a hearing. The NGT order came on October 1 and trucks carrying garbage started coming here from October 5 onwards.

Officials in the Chandigarh MC said that garbage was coming to the city not only from Shimla but also from Solan town and the industrial hub of Baddi, 35 km from here, both in Himachal Pradesh. Chandigarh mayor Poonam Sharma held a meeting with senior MC officers here on Thursday on the issue.

"At the meeting, the issue at large was discussed and it was decided that an appeal against the decision of NGT be filed," Sharma said. "The councillors were of the view that there is heavy resentment among the city residents regarding shifting/processing Shimla's garbage in Chandigarh," a Chandigarh MC spokesman said.

Chandigarh has set up its garbage treatment plant at Dadu Majra village which is managed by the private sector Jaypee Group. Officials at the plant said they were bound by the NGT orders even though Chandigarh MC officials were asking them not to accept the garbage from other places.

If the NGT order is not withdrawn, Chandigarh will receive 90-100 tonnes of garbage from Himachal Pradesh daily for processing. Chandigarh itself generates nearly 250 tonnes of garbage daily which is processed at the treatment plant. The processed garbage is converted to refuse-derived fuel which is used in power and cement plants.

By Jaideep Sarin