Chandigarh, July 16 -- With nearly one lakh metric tonnes of waste remaining unprocessed at the Dadumajra dump site and the July 31 deadline fast approaching, the Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) on Tuesday issued stern notices to all three firms responsible for clearing the legacy and fresh waste, and termed their performance 'unsatisfactory'. This comes just two days after the civic body slapped a Rs.35 lakh penalty on all three firms for failing to meet key infrastructure requirements outlined in their contracts. Initially, private firm M/s Aakanksha Enterprises was roped in for clearing the legacy waste. Finding the progress sluggish, the MC inducted two additional firms in February this year-both public sector undertakings (PSUs)-M/s Braithwaite Burn and Jessop Construction Limited and M/s Hindustan Steel Works Construction Limited, assigning them the joint task of completing the work by July 31. While the MC was clearing two mountains of legacy waste, of five lakh MT and eight lakh MT, a third mountain holding nearly 1.25 lakh MT waste had cropped up. It is here that the one lakh MT waste is still to be cleared. MC officials revealed that Aakanksha firm has shown the worst performance, with machinery remaining non-operational for several days and negligible measurable output. "The PSUs have also not achieved the required progress as per the agreed timelines," they said. The notice issued to the three firms by MC commissioner Amit Kumar read: "The regular progress report on biomining work, being executed by your agency, shows you are not progressing at the requisite pace since June 28, 2025, whereas progress is zero since the last 17 days. Despite repeated notices, your agency has failed to mobilise adequate resources or demonstrate any significant improvement.Your failure to adhere to the timelines is inexcusable." The notice further read, "Considering that the project is being monitored by the Punjab and Haryana high court and National Green Tribunal (NGT), the MC may have to face adverse action, penalty or compensation due to delayed work. If any penalty is imposed on the MC by the court of law, due to poor performance on your end, the penalty will be passed on to your agency. You and your agency are hereby directed to ensure that the work of processing legacy waste is completed by the end of this month." The civic body also issued show-cause notices to four of its employees for lapses in supervision of the biomining work at Dadumajra dumpsite. In a notice to the solid waste management (SWM) in-charge, nodal officer and two executive engineers of the SWN wing, chief engineer Sanjay Arora said, "It has been observed that there has been a continued failure in timely supervision and efficient execution of key SWM components under your respective jurisdictions, resulting in non-compliance with directions of the NGT and Punjab and Haryana high court. Failure to submit a satisfactory reply within the stipulated time shall be construed as your acceptance of the lapses and disciplinary proceedings shall be initiated accordingly."...