Khopoli's garbage processing project lies idle, machines gather dust

The garbage processing system that the Khopoli municipal council set up at considerable expense to tackle the city's waste problem is lying shut for now. Machines worth lakhs of rupees were bought for the project, which is located in the area of the old vegetable market. But the machines are not actually being used, and the whole project is gathering dust.

As a result, questions are being raised in the city about what became of the public money spent on waste management.

The system was installed so that the city's garbage would be segregated properly, processed, and the waste problem reduced. But at the project site the machines stand idle, and dust and filth are visible around them. Citizens are asking how the project's real purpose will be served if the very machines bought to process waste remain useless.

Why the project is not running despite the expenditure is the big question. How much money did the municipal council spend on it? From which company were the machines bought? Was the procurement process transparent? What is the capacity of the system, and for how many days was it actually run? These questions are now coming up. The administration should also tell citizens the exact reason the system is shut, whether it is a technical problem or whether the project has stalled for lack of maintenance and repair.

On one hand, the question of collecting and disposing of garbage in the city remains as it was. On the other, machines worth lakhs of rupees bought to process waste lie unused. The demand for fixing responsibility for this project, built with public money, is therefore growing louder.

The citizens' main demands are these. First, the municipal council should make public full details of the project's cost, tender process, purchase of machines, maintenance and repair, and present condition. Second, the shuttered system should be started immediately and the waste processing project actually put to use. Third, buying machines alone will not solve the garbage problem; regular use of those machines is just as important.

Citizens say that if this does not happen, the possibility cannot be ruled out that the project, built at a cost of lakhs of rupees, will end up as a mere showpiece.