Tinsukia becomes first district in NE to be free from legacy waste

Doomdooma, March 13: The Tinsukia district administration, in coordination with the five municipal boards in the district – Tinsukia, Doomdooma, Digboi, Margherita and Makum municipal boards – had taken an ambitious initiative in the month of March 2023, aimed at making the district free from legacy waste. The first project was started by utilising Oil India Limited’s CSR fund for biomining of legacy waste under the Tinsukia and Makum municipal boards.

Altogether 75,000 metric tonne (MT) of waste has been treated in the dumpsite at Tingrai in Tinsukia since then. Additionally, 18,000 MT has been treated under the Doomdooma Municipal Board, 25,000 MT of waste was treated under the Digboi Municipal Board, and 30,000 MT of waste was treated under the Margherita Municipal Board by utilising bio-mining techniques, making the district free of 1.53 lakh MT of legacy waste within the span of a year.

It is pertinent to mention that the presence of unprocessed legacy waste has been an emotional issue for the people of the region for a long time, as commuters were not able to pass the Tinsukia-Duliajan road without avoiding the stench of accumulated waste.

Swapneel Paul, district commissioner of Tinsukia, has stated that treatment of waste in all the sites combined has yielded more than 80 bighas of reclaimed land near the urban centres of the district, which can now be used for developmental activities. He has also mentioned that an MoU was executed with Dalmia Cement, whereby refuse-derived fuel (RDF), emerging as a by-product of the process is being sent to cement factories for utilisation.

This initiative has made Tinsukia a model district in reclamation of land through biomining of legacy waste.