The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has cleared Mundhwa as the new site for garbage processing in place of Uruli Devachi.

Mundhwa was among the two sites proposed by the district administration in the wake of the tussle between villagers of Uruli Devachi and the district administration. MPCB regional officer P B Mirashe said they were in the final stages of giving the authorisation. “The proposal will be cleared for a site in Keshav Nagar in Mundhwa for a garbage processing plant that will treat 200 metric tonnes of garbage of the city,” he said. He added that the site will house a biodigester that will in turn help generate electricity.

The system, the first-of-its-kind in the state, operates on the principles of anaerobic technology and will treat organic farm waste. This is a process of treating waste water without using oxygen. “An anaerobic digester is an industrial system that harnesses natural process to treat waste, produce biogas that can be used to power electricity generators, provide heat and produce soil-improving material. This technology is used to treat waste water in an environmental friendly manner and facilitating its use for irrigation or its return to water bodies without polluting them,” he said.

Although the administration has said it will be a scientific garbage processing unit, the residents of Mundhwa are not happy as the plant is just 1 km from housing societies. The processing plant proposed to come up at survey numbers 9-14 in Mundhwa is bound to affect people residing in Koregaon Park, Mundhwa, Ghorpadi and Keshavnagar, said K K Diwakar, a resident. Residents of Keshavnagar, Sopan Shinde are also worried that the garbage being carried to and fro to the area will create traffic jams at the Ghorpadi crossing. “With no railway over bridge, the garbage dumpers will worsen the situation,” said Diwakar.

Meanwhile, the MPCB is also in the process of giving authorisation to ward wise garbage processing dumps in the city. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has already proposed 11 such sites. A PMC officer said the sites have biogas plants and they will soon be given official clearances. The sites include Model Colony, Aundh, Bavdhan, Ghole Road, Peshwe Park, Hadapsar, Katraj, Wanowrie and Yerawada.