Innovative and environment-friendly techniques will be available at the country's second modern sanitary landfill at Amin Bazar for the proper disposal of half of the capital's solid wastes.
Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) will construct the landfill soon after it gets the green signal from the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) meeting, said a DCC official.
Japan Debt Cancellation Fund will fund the Tk 65-crore project, according to the official.
The first such landfill, costing Tk 46.63 crore, was inaugurated in October 2007 at Matuail where solid wastes from five out of ten DCC zones are dumped. Wastes from the rest of the zones will be dumped at the Amin Bazar landfill upon completion of the project.
Tariq Bin Yousuf, project director of DCC's Landfill Improvement Project, told this correspondent last week that since the Matuail landfill is not large enough to serve the remaining five zones of the city, the Conservancy Department of DCC is being compelled to dump solid wastes from these zones at conventional dumping grounds, causing hazards to human health as well as the environment.
According to a study conducted under the solid waste management master plan formulated in 2005 with technical assistance from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the total amount of waste that is generated in the city every day is around 3,400 tonnes and almost half of that is dumped at the Matuail landfill.
"With successful completion of the Amin Bazar landfill project, the entire city will come under a system of sanitary landfills," said Tariq adding that the landfill will be constructed on 50 acres of land and it will take two years to finish the project.
To protect the environment from groundwater contamination, soil contamination and air pollution by methane (generated by decaying organic wastes), various systems and facilities including leachate (liquid waste) management, landfill gas management, storm water management, truck weighing scale, vehicle wash plant and a control centre are installed at modern landfills such as the one at Matuail. These systems will also be installed at the proposed landfill at Amin Bazar.
The overall environment of Dhaka city will improve with the implementation of the Amin Bazar landfill project as biodiversity in and around Amin Bazar will be conserved by taking measures against soil, water and air pollution, Tariq said.
Rubberised landfill liner will be in place to prevent groundwater and soil contamination by seepage of leachates produced from the decomposition of waste within the landfill and the leachates will be treated before they are released into nearby natural water bodies. Aside from that, a filtering mechanism will reduce the emission of methane -- a greenhouse gas that is far more potent than carbon dioxide.
The special structural design of the landfill will ensure better decomposition of waste with keeping odour at a minimal level. Besides, city dwellers will no longer have to bear with the stench coming out of the garbage trucks as the vehicles will be washed in the on-site wash plant before they roll back onto the city streets.
The operation of the landfill will run for 20 years and after that a public park or a similar amusement facility will be developed over the completed landfill, a DCC official said.