Around 11,00,000 kg, or 1,100 tonnes per day (TPD) — that’s the quantity of garbage or solid waste that the city of Ludhiana produces in a single day, the highest among 13 Municipal Corporations (MCs) in Punjab. Nearly 3,074 tonnes of waste is collected in Punjab every day by 13 MCs.

►An investigation by The Indian Express revealed that for more than a year now, Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (LMC) has not processed a single kg of waste produced in the city with a population of over 16 lakh.

►Ludhiana is now staring at mountains of legacy waste (old waste waiting for processing), weighing over a whopping 21 lakh Metric Tonnes (MT), lying dumped at its Jamalpur landfill site on Tajpur road spread across 50 acres. According to a senior MC official, the accumulated legacy waste could be nearly twice at 40 lakh MT, as a fresh survey at the site is yet to be conducted.

►The legacy waste of over 21 lakh MT along with the new compilation of 1,100 tonnes every day, according to experts, is leading to irreversible environmental degradation of water, air and soil – with no immediate solution in sight.

►The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has also slapped a fine of Rs 3.80 crore on LMC for failure to process the legacy waste and therefore causing environmental degradation.

Courtesy :- https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ludhiana/an-express-investigation-part-1-processing-plant-lying-shut-21l-mt-legacy-waste-dumped-at-landfill-site-8007179  the project.