The state government, in a significant decision, has given the BBMP a green flag to build three large garbage transfer stations around the city, which will cost ₹305 crores.
Story so far: The transfer station project aims to eliminate the process of shifting the garbage from auto-tippers to compactors; a process that is defacing many areas in the city. The project covers the installation, commissioning, operation, and maintenance of transfer stations that have a minimum capacity of 150 tonnes per day for municipal solid waste.
- The government order reveals that the cost of installing three stations will be ₹36.91 crores while operation and maintenance of the stations for seven years will come up to ₹267.65 crores.
- Currently, ₹3 lakh is the monthly operation and maintenance cost of each mini-garbage station while the estimated monthly cost of operation of three large transfer stations is ₹1 crore.
High-cost project: At present, auto-tippers do not need to travel more than 3km to shift garbage to compactors. However, the transfer stations are expected to cover at least 10 wards. This means that auto-tippers will have to travel up to 10 km to transfer the garbage.
- A solid waste management expert stated that spending such an exorbitant amount of money on the transfer of garbage is unnecessary as auto-tippers can do so within the ward itself, saving them the trouble of a longer trip.