Disgusted with own dept, NMC seeks NIT help

Nagpurians will have to put up with heaps of uncleared garbage, especially on roads and squares for a few more months. Reason? A fresh dispute has cropped up between Nagpur Municipal Corporation's estate department and health department (sanitation) over the allocation of the NMC-owned land to private garbage lifting contractor Kanak Resources Management Limited (KRML) for developing four garbage transfer stations.

NMC health officer (sanitation) Dr Milind Ganvir said Kanak was to be given four plots for operating garbage transfer stations under the bin-free project of the city that began in 2008. Garbage is being collected door to door under the project and should be taken to these transfer stations from where it would be transported to Bhandewadi dumping yard by containers. "We had identified spots at Mankapur ghat, behind Central Jail at Chunabhatti, Near Police Headquarters (Rural) and near Lokanchi Shala, Tulsibagh," Ganvir said.

However, the estate department is not ready to hand over the places reserved for garbage dumping in development plan and owned by NMC itself, Ganvir alleged. Fed up with the delay and after several reminders, now Health department has sent a request to Nagpur Improvement Trust demanding 30,000 sq feet land at four places. Dr Ganvir said, "NIT has spacious lands on Great Nag Road near Nag river, at Gangabai ghat square near Bagadganj, near Chamadia High School on North Ambazari road, Shankar Nagar, and at Garib Nawaz Nagar on Ring Road. They are perfect for garbage transfer stations, especially for west and south Nagpur". We have demanded just 30,000 sq ft land from them, he added

"Due to NMC estate department's lackadaisical attitude, we are requesting NIT officials to give these spots on lease to us wherein the contractor could develop garbage transfer stations. Due to non-development of transfer stations, still over 150 of original 700 garbage bins are in use and posing health hazard to citizens," he said. "The contractor is forced to collect the garbage in such large container bins, kept on roads, squares and important junctions just because of estate department's apathy," Ganvir added.

A senior estate department officer told TOI that the delay was because of absence of proper records about the lands that health department has asked for. He said no time-frame could be given about when the lands could be made available.