Chandigarh, March 25 — The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (MC) is set to hire a new private firm to process the third garbage mountain at the Dadumajra dumping ground by July 2025. The ₹12 crore proposal will be tabled during the MC general House meeting on Tuesday.
According to the meeting agenda, MC officials cited mounting pressure from the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and Members of Parliament to clear the site. “The NGT is pursuing with Chandigarh Administration/MC for clearing the dumping ground of legacy waste at the earliest. The Punjab and Haryana High Court also mandated that the third dump be cleared in a time-bound manner,” the agenda reads.
Two private firms have shown interest in undertaking the bio-mining process. If the House approves the proposal, the MC will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the selected firm to begin waste processing.
Earlier, MC officials had claimed that the company contracted for the first and second garbage mounds would also handle the third without extra funds. However, the new plan seeks a separate ₹12 crore allocation, to be drawn from ring-fenced funds for solid waste management, as directed by the NGT.
Chandigarh’s waste management has struggled for years. The Dadumajra site previously had two massive waste piles—one containing 5 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) and another 8 LMT—due to poor processing. The first was cleared by December 2022, and the second by February 2024. However, continued dumping of unsegregated waste led to the formation of the third mountain, now containing roughly 1.25 LMT.
The MC will also revisit its plan to set up an integrated solid waste management plant at Dadumajra. First approved in July 2023, the project will include facilities for dry, wet, and horticulture waste, with a capacity of 600 tonnes per day to manage the city’s daily waste generation of 550 metric tonnes (MT). Spread over 20 acres, the plant will operate for 17 years—two for construction and 15 for maintenance.
Following the tendering process, M/s Hindustan Waste Treatment Private Limited, in a joint venture with M/s SFC Environmental Technologies Private Limited, Navi Mumbai, emerged as the lowest bidder in a January 7 meeting.
However, political tensions are likely, as Congress and AAP councillors oppose the waste-to-CNG plant, advocating instead for a waste-to-electricity facility. The disagreement is expected to spark further debate in Tuesday’s meeting.
