Tuesday, 14 February 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) has asked the Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited (REEL) to make arrangements for the disposal of nearly 2.5 lakh metric tonnes of refuse derived fuel (RDF) accumulated at the solid waste management and recycling plant in Sheeshambada. Since huge piles of RDF accumulated during REEL’s period as the operator of the plant, the officials said it was their responsibility to dispose of them as per the agreement signed with the corporation.
The REEL had been operating the plant for about five years but the MCD replaced it in November last year with a Bhopal based agency- National Federation of Farmers’ Procurement, Processing and Retailing Cooperatives of India Ltd, (NACOF). The REEL was replaced allegedly due to its questionable working quality which led to several other anomalies in the city like irregularities in door to door garbage collection service, roadside littering and its failure to dispose of RDF accumulated in the plant over the years. The officials claimed that REEL failed to tackle these issues despite several warnings and was demanding a raise in their payments too.
After the MCD denied any raise in payments and gave an ultimatum to improve its work quality along with other conditions, REEL decided to get relieved of its duties under the corporation.The municipal health officer Dr Avinash Khanna said that though the MCD has appointed NACOF to operate the plant, the REEL has been directed to ensure they make arrangements to dispose of the RDF accumulated there due to their incapability of disposing it on time. He said that the new company is taking all measures to dispose of RDF generating in the plant but the old RDF stock of about 2.5 lakh metric tonne would be disposed of by REEL. The MCD will not pay REEL’s pending dues if it fails to dispose of it soon, added Khanna.
