Under the Swachh Maharashtra Abhiyan (Urban) 2.0, a project of bioremediation of legacy waste has been sanctioned for Nagpur city. The total cost of the project shall be Rs 42.80 crore. From Vidarbha region, Nagpur, Amravati and Akola municipal corporations have been included in the project.

For entire Maharashtra, remediation of total 3,74,66,951.20 metres of legacy waste shall be carried out at a cost of Rs 1,661.13 crore of which share of Central and State Governments, and urban local bodies (ULBs) shall be Rs 433.74 crore, Rs 598.07 crore and Rs 629.32 crore respectively. In Vidarbha region, legacy waste remediation shall be carried out in Nagpur, Amravati, Akola Municipal Corporations and also Achalpur, Gondia, and Hinganghat Municipal Councils.

The respective cost of the project for Achalpur, Gondia, and Hinganghat is Rs 92 lakh, Rs 43 lakh, and Rs 77 lakh.

Central Government has made available Rs 86.76 crore to Maharashtra Government, for legacy waste remediation in 28 cities in State. Before distributing the fund to these ULBs, State’s administrative nod is required. Accordingly, Urban Development Department has released a letter regarding administrative approval.

Nagpur Municipal Corporation, which is Class ‘A’ ULB, has 2,22,577 sq mtrs of dumpsite area where it is expected to bioremediate 10 lakh metres of legacy waste at the prevalent rate of Rs 428 per metre.

The total proposed cost is Rs 42.80 crore of which Central share shall be Rs 10.70 crore, State share shall be Rs 14.98 crore, and the highest share shall be of NMC -- Rs 17.12 crore. Importantly, ULBs have to get back the land of legacy waste dumpsite from the contractor concerned. Failure in this regard shall result into fixing of responsibility on the officers/office-bearers/employees concerned. But, sources familiar with the project conditions pointed out an ‘issue’ also. According to them, the entire responsibility for project cost escalation shall rest with the ULB concerned and State Government shall not make available any additional aid to meet expenses arising out of cost escalation. “Already, when ULBs are undergoing crisis as far as municipal finances are concerned, it is difficult to bear the cost escalation and this may affect bioremediation of legacy waste,” said an official.