PMC to float tender to set up animal waste processing plant

Pune: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has floated a tender to set up an animal waste processing plant though the plan was earlier stopped due to strong opposition from residents.

With reports of animal waste from shops dumped in open areas or drains, attracting stray animals and rodents, the civic body will appoint an independent consultant to collect data on such legal and illegal outlets and set up a system for waste collection and processing.

As per the PMC primary survey, there are more than 10,000 vendors selling mutton and chicken across the city.

Prithviraj BP, additional municipal commissioner, said, “The project will include charging shop owners a fee for waste collection and implementing scientific waste disposal methods.”

A civic official on condition of anonymity said that PMC had decided to set up the plant in Uruli Devachi area, but delayed the project following opposition from residents.

“As same public reaction is expected in other locations, we have not disclosed the site yet,” the official said.

The central government under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan campaign has instructed municipal bodies to set up animal waste processing unit in keeping with environmental safety norms. According to the directives, the project requires 20 gunthas (one guntha is equal to 1,089 square feet) with a 200-metre buffer zone. PMC had found the Uruli Devachi facility to be one of most suitable land spaces for setting up the centre.

Six years ago, the civic body had built a dead animal waste processing centre in Mundhwa at a cost of ₹3 crore which had to be temporarily shut down after some citizens went to court seeking its closure. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has lifted its stay on the project, and the facility with a processing capacity of one tonne will restart within a month’s time, a civic official said.