Pimpri-Chinchwad’s garbage crisis continues two months after a fatal accident at the Moshi waste depot, with garbage reportedly accumulating across the city and none of the 10 proposed waste-processing centres yet operational or assigned a confirmed site, Loksatta – Pune reported on September 11.
The report said delays in unloading waste vehicles at the Moshi depot were contributing to the worsening situation. Garbage heaps have been reported in several parts of the city, including open plots and along roadsides. The municipal administration has attributed the difficult waste situation to delays in handling incoming waste at the depot.
The Moshi depot was closed after a garbage mound collapsed onto an unauthorised building on July 8, killing nine workers and injuring 12 others. During the closure, the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation began depositing waste temporarily at Shankrawadi in Kasarwadi, a site under the Khadki Cantonment Board, and at an old waste-depot site near Nigdi under the Dehu Road Cantonment Board.
According to the report, both locations prohibited the civic body from depositing waste after only eight days. The municipal corporation then began using open spaces in the city for waste disposal. Although waste dumping at Moshi depot resumed several days before the latest report, garbage that had accumulated in different parts of the city had not been fully removed.
The continuing accumulation has led to an increase in complaints from residents and municipal councillors. The situation has also highlighted the city’s dependence on the Moshi facility and the limited availability of alternative sites for handling waste when the depot is unavailable.
The municipal commissioner had announced plans to establish 10 waste-processing centres, with one centre proposed for each of the civic body’s 10 regional offices. However, two months after the Moshi accident, none of the centres had started operations, the report said. The municipal administration had also not announced the locations for the proposed facilities.
The commissioner had assured councillors from Moshi during a general body meeting that the sites for the centres would be announced the previous week. That announcement had not been made by the time of the report, leaving the proposed decentralised processing network without publicly confirmed locations.
The immediate next step reported by Loksatta is the municipal administration’s announcement of sites for the 10 proposed waste-processing centres. Until then, waste collection and disposal will continue to depend on the Moshi depot and other temporary arrangements.
