Chakan, 20th August 2026: The Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) will set up a centralised solid waste processing plant on 36.5 acres of land in the Chakan MIDC area to address the regionтАЩs long-pending waste management crisis.
The proposed facility will cater to 19 local bodies, including Chakan and Rajgurunagar municipal councils and 17 gram panchayats in Chakan and Khed talukas. The site has been identified at Point No. 4 in Chakan MIDC, near ESR.
Under directions from the state government, MIDC will provide the land, while PMRDA will develop the centralised waste processing facility. The decision was taken at a joint review meeting held at the PMRDA headquarters in Akurdi on Thursday, attended by sarpanchs, administrators and gram development officers from 17 villages, MIDC officials and municipal council chief officers.
The meeting was attended by PMRDA metropolitan commissioner Dr Abhijit Chaudhary, Pune district collector Jitendra Dudi, additional metropolitan commissioner K Manjulakshmi and Khed-Alandi MLA Babaji Kale.
All 19 participating towns and villages are located within 20km of the proposed facility, with most within a distance of 3km to 18km, officials said. This is expected to make transportation of waste easier.
Under the proposed system, municipal councils and gram panchayats will have to collect waste within their jurisdictions, ensure 100% segregation and transport it to the centralised facility. The plantтАЩs capacity will be planned considering projected population growth over the next 30 years, with waste generation estimated at 350 grams per person per day.
Participating gram panchayats will have to pay a fixed tipping fee per tonne for waste processing and pass formal resolutions to join the system, Chaudhary said.
Vehicles for waste collection and transportation will be arranged through the 15th Finance Commission, local funds or CSR contributions. Dudi said gram panchayats unable to purchase vehicles using their own funds would be assisted in obtaining vehicles through CSR funding.
He urged more gram panchayats to join the centralised system, saying it would significantly reduce their burden of managing solid waste.
Kale said the waste management problem in the Chakan and Khed MIDC areas had remained serious for several years and the proposed project was a step towards a permanent solution. He also urged local bodies to pass the necessary resolutions and actively participate in the system.
