Abhinav Vashisht

Kullu, May 5

The Manali Municipal Council (MC) has sent letters to Kullu, Bhuntar and Banjar municipal bodies, all block development officers, eight panchayats, and hoteliers falling under the purview of the Tourism Development Council (TDC) and the Manali Hoteliers Association (MHA). According to the letter, no garbage would be accepted by the Manali MC at the Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) plant at Rangri in Manali after June 21.

Fined Rs 15.3 lakh

• More than 50 tonnes of garbage reaches the plant every day, leading to the facility housing more trash than it is equipped to
• In May last year, the Pollution Control Board (PCB) had imposed a fine of Rs 15.30 lakh on the Manali MC for polluting the Beas as the RDF plant was overfilled, leading to the garbage flowing into the river

Can make matters worse

• The Kullu MC has been looking for a new dumping site ever since dumping was stopped at the waste incinerator plant at Pirdi in January 2019
• Many places were earmarked by the administration for waste management. However, local panchayats objected to the setting up of waste treatment plants in their areas
• In Bhuntar, Banjar and Manikaran, there is no system for the disposal of waste as of now
• The crisis regarding disposal of garbage may deepen if Manali MC stops accepting waste from other parts of the region

The garbage of Manali and its suburbs, and the areas under the jurisdiction of civic bodies of Kullu, Bhuntar and Banjar is currently being dumped at the RDF plant as adequate waste management facilities are not available with other civic bodies of the region.

In May last year, the Pollution Control Board (PCB) had imposed a fine of Rs 15.30 lakh on the Manali MC for polluting the Beas as the RDF site was overfilled, leading to the garbage flowing into the river.

Manali MC Executive Officer (EO) Karun Bharmoria said, "During a meeting under the chairmanship of the Kullu DC on March 21, a detailed discussion was held about the solid waste management. It was decided that all rural areas and urban municipal bodies will make arrangements for the disposal of garbage at their respective levels by June 21."

Garbage from no area except Manali will be collected at the RDF plant after June 21, and correspondence in this regard was made to all the authorities concerned, he added.

The waste of the entire region is presently being sent to the Rangri plant. Manali MC is being paid Rs 1 per kg for waste disposal.

More than 50 tonnes of garbage reaches the plant every day, leading to the plant housing more trash than it is equipped to.

In November 2022, too, the Manali MC had sent letters to civic bodies of the region asking them not to send garbage to Manali after December 1, 2022, citing the capacity of the plant.

However, the waste continued to be disposed of at the Rangri plant due to the intervention of the Kullu DC.

The Kullu MC has been looking for a new dumping site ever since dumping was stopped at the waste incinerator plant at Pirdi in January 2019. Many places were earmarked by the administration for waste management. However, local panchayats objected to the setting up of waste treatment plants in their areas.

In Bhuntar, Banjar and Manikaran, there is no system for the disposal of waste as of now.

About 18,000 tonnes of waste still lies in the now-defunct Pirdi dumping site near Beas, despite National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordering to remove the same. Instead of removing the garbage, the administration has been taking steps to revive the Pirdi plant.

The crisis regarding disposal of garbage may deepen if Manali MC stops accepting waste from other parts of the region.