Pune: The civic body’s standing committee has approved a proposal to set up a 300-metric-tonne (MT) waste processing unit in the Phursungi-Uruli Devachi area to enhance the city’s waste-processing capacity. Around 12 acres of land will be allotted to Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) to set up and operate a bio-CNG project for processing wet waste.The entire cost of setting up and maintaining the project, including repairs, will be borne by BPCL.“The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will only have to provide the land, transport waste to the processing plant and provide the necessary basic infrastructure,” said Shrinath Bhimale, chairman of the standing committee.Bhimale said the civic body was taking steps to improve overall waste processing capacity against the backdrop of increased daily waste generation following the merger of 23 villages into PMC limits. The city generates around 2,700 to 2,800 MT of solid waste per day, of which around 1,000 to 1,100 MT is wet waste. “The installed capacity for processing wet waste is currently only 595 MT per day, prompting the civic body to push the proposal to augment processing capacity,” he said.Bhimale said the monthly electricity and water bills for the project would be paid by BPCL. The company would also own the products generated from the project and have the rights to sell or scientifically dispose of them.Under the proposal, the 12 acres of land will be handed over to BPCL for 27 years, including two years for setting up and operationalising the unit and the subsequent 25 years of operation. The lease will be at a nominal rate of Rs 1 per acre per annum. The proposal will now be placed before PMC’s general body for final approval.Residents from Phursungi and Uruli Devachi have been opposing waste-processing plants in the area. PMC officials said they were in communication with residents and that the issues raised by them were being addressed.
