News
Kerawalapitiya full, garbage will go to Aruwakkalu by road from next month
View(s):The proposed plan to transport garbage to a landfill in the Puttalam District is to take place ahead of schedule as the Kerwalapitiya site is running short of space, a senior official said.
Accordingly, from the Western Province, more than 600 tons of garbage will be transported by road daily to Puttalam from next month until arrangements are put in place to provide transport by railway wagons mid next year, Megapolis and Western Development Ministry Secretary Nihal Rupasinghe told the Sunday Times.
He said the move would see garbage trucks travelling a distance of about 170 kilometres on a one-way journey at nights and the trucks would return the following day.
He said the number of trucks had not been determined, but discussions were being held with local authorities and private companies to finalise this.
The move to dump garbage at the landfill at Aruwakkalu in Puttalam has been expedited after the warnings that the Kerwalapitiya site could not be used from next month as it was reaching the capacity, he said. The site has been used since April 2017, after the collapse of the Meethothamulla garbage dump.
Under the project, garbage collected from Colombo, Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, Kaduwela, Dehiwala Mt Lavinia and parts of the Gampaha District would be transported to the new site which was now being prepared, the Secretary said.Mr. Rupasinghe said the US$ 100.5 M Aruwakkalu landfill project was being prepared by the China Harbour Engineering Company.
Initially garbage was due to be transported by train from a location in Kelaniya. The company would provide two engines and 34 wagons for the operation to transport the garbage twice a day — with a capacity to carry 1,200 tons of garbage a day. Mr Rupasinghe said they hoped the rail transportation would be ready by July next year.
The Aruwakkalu project has a capacity of taking garbage for about 100 years and is being prepared in keeping with environmental standards, with the garbage waste water being purified before being discharged into the area.