DNCC to construct 72 STSs

Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) has taken a move to construct 72 secondary transfer stations (STSs) in 36 wards under the corporation for environment-friendly waste management and relieve city residents of the toxic stench of garbage, officials said.
The procedure has been completed in this connection including tender invitation. The bids will be awarded by the end of this month. The estimated cost of the project is Tk 170 million (17 crore) excluding the expenditure for land.
Although the issue of constructing STSs in Dhaka city corporations had long been discussed, it was never implemented due to scarcity of land.
Incumbent DNCC mayor Annisul Huq with the help of councillors has selected 72 STS points (two in each ward) in 36 wards. The land at those points belongs to different ministries.
The mayor would start issuing letters to the ministers concerned from next Sunday, city corporation officials said.     
Many STSs have been constructed in some other city corporations with funding of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
DNCC chief waste management officer Capt Bipan Kumar Saha told the FE on Wednesday that the land belongs to roads and highways department, railway ministry, housing and public works ministry, RAJUK (Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha), telecommunication ministry, jute and textiles ministry and Water Development Board.
"We have set the standard STS size at 2,000 square feet where there will be drainage and washing facilities. But ultimately the size of the STS will depend on the size of available land which can be larger or smaller," said Mr Saha.
He said at present about 55 vehicles carry more than 241 waste containers of the corporation. On an average each vehicle can carry about five containers a day to the Aminbazar land filling station.
But those get stuck up in traffic jams, for which the transfer process becomes slow leaving a major portion of waste on roads during the day, causing people's inconvenience and tarnishing the image of the city corporation, he added.   
He said although there is a rule to collect household waste from 4:00 pm till 8:00 pm, transfer those to the land-filling stations from 10:00 pm and continue doing it till dawn, the city dwellers do not allow garbage collectors to enter their houses in the evening.
"But we will start the standard process of waste collection and dumping soon," he said.
The DNCC collects about 2,300 tonnes of garbage everyday from 250 points. The quantity of garbage will be the same as that of the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC). The growing city population and rapid and unplanned urbanisation have posed a formidable challenge to the city corporations, as far as the waste management is concerned.
Mr Saha said the newly-elected mayor is serious about waste management as it was his election pledge to make Dhaka city clean.
Expressing his hope to start the construction work of at least 60 STSs by September as per the tender, he said DNCC wants to finish the construction work fast. That's why the tenders have been invited under four packages.
The city dwellers would get rid of the stench of garbage and no visible waste would be there on roads from January 01 next year, he added.
"We have already opened tender box but the documents are yet to be evaluated by the technical committee. We hope to start the construction work by September and complete it by November," Mr Saha said.
    msshova@gmail.com