Rajarhat New Town will be a township that will be three times bigger than its neighbouring Salt Lake, and with many multistoreyed residential complexes, commercial centres, malls and other institutes, it is anybody's guess as to the amount of waste that will be generated here on a daily basis. 

The civic authorities of Salt Lake are facing an uphill task to dispose of their waste at the Mollar bheri dumping ground, which has already become exhausted. In the case of Rajarhat, the problem would be more acute. If a waste disposal ground is not identified soon, waste disposal will go out of control. By a moderate estimate, several hundred tonnes of waste will be generated daily from the township once it is fully functional. 

Residents complain that garbage and other wastes are now getting dumped on vacant plots near highrises. "All waste is getting dumped on the open grounds. With some IT offices already coming up here, hundreds of IT executive have their food at the roadside eateries and the plastic papers and other materials are being thrown into the open grounds, creating a complete mess. The problem is that the Hidco authorities have been failing to clean away this waste, accumulated daily," said local resident Animesh Dutta. In some places, plastic and other waste is already getting into the open sewer and drains, choking them. 

Hidco chairman and housing minister Gautam Deb has been complaining that a suitable spot for setting up a dumping ground has been identified, but a section of locals, backed by Trinamool Congress, was creating all sorts of problems in starting work on the project. "We have identified a huge area near Bhangor where a solid waste management ground could be set up for disposal and recycling, but Trinamool is creating problems in starting work," he said. 

Officials said that they were conducting surveys to identify other areas that could be used as solid waste dumping grounds. "Once the township fully comes up, there would be enormous daily generation of solid waste. We will require a systematic solid waste management plan that will effectively collect all waste from the township and put into a recycling plant, from where we can produce fertilizers. We are discussing this issue with the environment department," said an official. Already, the Centre has assured of providing 80% of funds assistance to Hidco to implement a solid waste management project.