The integrated solid waste management project, which was launched with much fanfare on June 27 this year, has hit a stumbling block in the absence of land.

The extent of the problem can be gauged by the fact that door-to-door waste collection is currently being carried out in only 23 out of the 55 wards under Dhanbad Municipal Corporation (DMC).

Hyderabad-based Ramky Enviro Engineers, which is executing the Rs 274-crore waste management project, has cited lack of land for setting up of garbage compactor stations as a major hurdle in extending door-to-door collection work to 32 wards spread across Katras, Sindri and Chhatand circles.

At present, there are four garbage compactor stations in Dhanbad.

“We need at least 23 more garbage transfer stations to execute the door-to-door collection work,” sources in Ramky Enviro Engineers said.

An executive of the Hyderabad agency said Ramky needed more compactor stations to save time, energy, manpower and funds.

“It will help to expedite the door-to-door collection work in the efficient manner. The DMC had shown us land to set up compactor stations, but did not receive relevant documents such as a proper map of the land mentioning its boundaries. This created practical difficulties in starting a construction work,” the official said on the condition of anonymity.

Underscoring the practical difficulties in the absence of sufficient compactor stations, the Ramky executive said it took around 90 minutes to transport garbage from Bank Mor to the Hirapur compactor station.

“Had there been a compactor station at Bank Mor, we could have made five-six trips per a day,” he said.

Councillor of Ward 40, Jay Kumar, confessed that the garbage collection work was not up to the mark, but expressed hope that things would improve soon.

“The DMC has hired an amin (land surveyor), who will properly identify the land earmarked for the setting up of compactor stations,” he said.

Project in-charge of Ramky Enviro Engineers, Pranab Kumar Pattanaik, said they had written to the DMC regarding the land issue and were expecting the problems to be sorted out soon.

Municipal commissioner Chandramohan Kashyap said: The land issue will be resolved soon, but Ramky Enviro Engineers will also need to complete their detailed project report on the construction of compactor stations at the earliest.”