Malegaon deserves the status of an industrial township

Malegaon as a city lacks basic infrastructure for collecting and disposing of solid waste without adequate underground sewage system. The city ranks 13th in generating MSW in the country and has the distinction of accommodating Asia’s biggest plastic recycling industry, which is in need of consolidation. Ajit Jadhav, Municipal Commissioner, talks about the Malegaon Municipal Corporation (MMC) MSW and city sanitation plans.

Solid Waste Management programme

Malegaon generates a total waste of 140 MT daily. There is no house to house collection done by MMC. We are therefore planning to float a tender for door to door collection within the city for a period of 10 years. This has been successfully done in Nashik, Kolhapur and Solapur. Many citizens defecate in the open as not every one of them has access to individual and public sanitation system. A City Sanitation plan in this respect has been sent to the state government for approval.

Waste to Energy

All the waste generated in Malegaon is being dumped in a 27 acre dumping ground on the outskirts of Malegaon, and left to decompose. There is a need to recycle the waste and transform it to energy. The solid waste is generally processed for composting. We are thinking beyond dumping the waste particularly on the lines of generating energy out of waste as is done in Solapur. Power projects in the state get sanctions from Finance Regulatory Commission. Solapur Municipal Corporation has got the sanction for the first time in Maharashtra based on the feasibility of the power generation project. We want to set up a similar project in Malegaon as well. Pune is yet to generate power based on similar concept.

Biomedical Waste

We have hired an agency from Nashik to collect and take away bio-medical waste directly from the hospitals. We have registered hospitals from where the agency picks up waste and transports it to Nashik. Malegaon Corporation in particular does not get any concession or extra funding from the government despite issues like industrialization and high population density alongwith increasing proliferation of slums.

Sewerage Treatment

A new Sewerage Scheme for Malegaon City at an estimated cost of over र175.56 Cr has been planned. The Scheme proposes two Sewerage Treatment Plants (STP) of 15 MLD and 65 MLD respectively which will cover approximately 260 km length of connections spread over 13sqkm. The proposed scheme is divided into four drainage districts on east and west side of Mosam River to facilitate conveyance of wastewater.

A proposal has been sent to the state government for cleaning of STP, which will get approval in the coming three to four months. The project has been approved after the technical sanction but a state level committee is yet to give administrative and financial consent. Malegaon city will get underground sewerage line after implementation of the scheme. The major sanitation issue of open gutters will also get solved with that.

Eco Friendly Initiatives

Over the years, effluent water from the power loom units is drained into the Mosam river polluting it. We have planned the revival of the river under the Nadi Sudhar Yojana. A plan has already been sent to the State Government and to the Central Government for approval under the National River Conservation plan. We hope to get the approval in six months. Once implemented, it will enhance the environment and topography of Malegaon.