Jalandhar Municipal Corporation has approved a long-awaited solid waste management project valued at Rs six billion (bn), marking a major overhaul of the city's waste collection and processing system. The project obtained clearance from the Finance and Contracts Committee and will be placed before the House for final approval after financial revisions. The approvals form part of broader civic works sanctioned by the corporation.

Both tenders related to the project were awarded to BVG India Limited, which will oversee daily door-to-door household collection and citywide waste processing. The contractor will be engaged under an extended eight-year term after an initial three-year plan drew limited interest from private firms, and the Municipal Corporation has budgeted Rs 750 million (mn) annually for execution of the contract. The Finance Committee also approved additional civic works worth Rs 6,750 million (mn), including road, park, tubewell, water supply and sewerage projects.

Operational measures include the fitting of all collection vehicles with GPS tracking and the deployment of a dedicated mobile application to allow officials to monitor operations in real time. Collected waste will be taken to Material Recovery Facilities where mechanised systems will segregate recyclable and organic streams, while a modern processing plant will be constructed at the Wariana dump site. The Municipal Corporation has purchased nine acres adjacent to the dump site for the facility, which will use advanced technology to convert wet waste into organic manure.

The detailed project report envisages deployment of 450 small vehicles to achieve a target collection of 631 tonnes (t) daily, with one vehicle, staffed by a driver and two helpers, serving approximately 700 households. The company is expected to recruit more than 1,800 employees for project operations, which has prompted employee unions to signal opposition and to be expected to raise concerns in coming days. Mayor Vineet Dhir, Deputy Mayor Malkiat Singh and committee members Kavita Seth and Hitesh Grewal attended the meeting, while Joint Commissioner Dr Mandeep Kaur oversaw administrative proceedings.