Shillong, October 2: The Meghalaya Urban Affairs Minister, Shri R. V. Lyngdoh today inaugurated the Phase 1 of the Sanitary Landfill for disposal of processed rejects and inert waste at Marten, Mawlai in presence of Shri F. R. Kharkongor, Commissioner & Secretary to the Government of Meghalaya, Urban Affairs Department, Shri E. Kharmalki, Director, Urban Affairs Department, Shri T. Dkhar, Senior Technical Director, NIC, Meghalaya, Shri B. S. Sohliya, Chief Executive Officer, Shillong Municipal Board and Shri B. Dutta, Former Project Director, SIPMIU. The project was funded by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India and the Asian Development Bank.
Dedicating the landfill site to the citizens of the city, Meghalaya Urban Affairs Minister, Shri R. V. Lyngdoh said that the landfill site will go a long way in keeping the city clean by ensuring that the waste generated are properly segregated and dumped in the site. Shri Lyngdoh also said that the government is embarking upon other technological based solutions on waste management to make Meghalaya a garbage free state.
The sanitary landfill site will be developed in an area of 15,000 sqm which is part of the 18 acres diverted by the Forest Department to the SMB for use of waste disposal and management. In the first phase, 6,500 sqm of the area available is developed for the purpose under Tranche 1 of NERCCDIP at the cost of Rs. 7.57 crores and the work was completed in May, 2017. The landfill has a design life of 3 years and 9 months.
The sanitary landfill in the balance area (8,500 sqm) including ancillary works at the contract cost of Rs. 19.33 crores. The work started in the month of April 2016 and the construction period for this phase will be 24 months. The work is taken up under Tranche 2 of the program. Both phases of the Sanitary Landfill will cater to the requirement of about 10 years in proper disposal of the inert waste (waste which cannot be processed or recycled) and rejects from the processing facilities.
The sanitary landfill was designed for disposal of only the rejects from the processing plants and the inert waste. The work involves construction of retaining walls to support the cells, laying of geo membrane over geo synthetic clay liners which will prevent seepage of leacheate coming from the waste into the ground. The leacheate will instead be collected by leacheate pipes laid at the bottom of the cells and taken to a leacheate treatment tank to avoid contamination of ground water. The cells will be filled up by the rejects coming from the compost plant or any other treatment units and will be rolled and covered with soil or other inert at appropriate intervals. On final closing of these cells, the entire landfill will be covered with vegetation and can be used for other purposes.
During the programme, the Urban Affairs Minister distributed the prizes and certificates to the winners of Shillong Hackathon 2017 and also handed over the certificates to two localities viz; Upper Lansonalane and Cleve Colony, for best practices in waste management and maintenance of cleanliness.
