Panchkula's Waste Management Crisis Deepens as Plant Project Stalls
More than half a year after receiving municipal approval, Panchkula's much-needed horticultural waste disposal plant remains trapped in bureaucratic limbo, leaving the city drowning under growing mounds of untreated garden waste. The Municipal Corporation's ambitious Rs 2.43 crore project, initially approved for Industrial Area, Phase 1, has failed to move beyond the tendering stage despite multiple attempts to find a suitable agency.
Failed Tenders and Mounting Waste
The MC has floated several tenders for the project but has consistently failed to finalize any agency to take up the crucial waste management initiative. With each failed tender round, the city's waste problem escalates, creating environmental hazards and public health concerns across multiple residential sectors.
The proposed facility was designed to be equipped with advanced machinery including a briquette machine, hammer mill, flash dryer, and comprehensive pollution-control system. Once operational, it would have transformed garden and horticultural waste into usable briquettes, providing an eco-friendly solution to the city's growing waste management challenges.
Residential Areas Turned into Dumping Grounds
Local residents report that prime residential plots in Sector 21, Part 3—developed and auctioned by Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) for crores of rupees—have been converted into unofficial dumping sites for horticultural and construction-demolition waste. Both MC vehicles and private contractors are allegedly responsible for this indiscriminate dumping.
The problem extends beyond Sector 21, with multiple sectors across Panchkula reporting similar scenes of neglected waste heaps. In one particularly concerning instance, even a community centre has been repurposed as a temporary waste storage facility, highlighting the severity of the disposal crisis.
Municipal Response and Interim Measures
When confronted about the delays, Mayor Kulbhushan Goyal acknowledged that the corporation has yet to identify a suitable agency to establish the waste plant. However, he emphasized that temporary measures have been implemented to manage the situation.
"We have engaged two tractors, eight sanitation workers in each ward, and a JCB shared between two wards for removal of C&D and horticulture waste for the next four months," Goyal stated. The mayor also confirmed that the MC has designated Jaswantgarh as the official site for C&D waste and an open area in Billa village for storing horticultural waste.
Despite these stopgap arrangements, local residents like Atul Jindal express growing frustration with the prolonged delay. "The MC must give priority to the plant. It should review its terms and conditions to ensure that agencies come forward to set it up," Jindal urged, reflecting widespread concerns about environmental impact and municipal mismanagement.
With the tendering process stuck in a cycle of failures and temporary solutions proving inadequate, Panchkula residents continue to wait for a permanent resolution to the city's escalating waste management crisis.
