Chandigarh, July 13 -- The Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) has imposed a penalty of Rs.35 lakh each on three firms tasked with clearing legacy and fresh waste at Dadumajra dump site as they failed to comply with the infrastructure conditions outlined in the work contracts. The firms - two public sector undertakings (PSUs) and a private company - had been instructed to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at the site to monitor operations and ensure the safe disposal of biofuel generated from the biomining process, among other things. However, a recent inspection by civic body officials revealed that these critical directives had not been followed. An MC official said the lack of surveillance systems and failure to dispose of biofuel as per prescribed environmental norms posed serious safety and compliance concerns. "The firms were given adequate time to meet the mandatory infrastructure requirements, but they did not act. This negligence not only violates the terms of the agreement but also hampers the efficiency of the biomining project," the official said. Municipal commissioner Amit Kumar said, "The firms have been penalised for missing out on timelines and violating several terms and conditions outlined in the work contracts." Amid Chandigarh's turbulent waste management journey, two legacy waste mountains of five LMT and eight LMT came up in Dadumajra over the past few decades due to inadequate garbage processing facilities. The first dump, with five LMT waste, was processed by December 2022. However, when the bio-remediation of the second mountain was being done, another mountain of 1.25 LMT waste emerged at the landfill as a result of the unabated dumping of unsegregated and unprocessed daily waste. After missing several deadlines, the MC had cleared the second mountain in February 2025, with work still on to clear the entire site by July-end. Around 1 lakh MT of waste is still lying unprocessed, and is getting delayed due to rains. On May 7, the MC's counsel submitted in the high court that the entire waste will be cleared by May 31. However, the deadlines kept shifting at various levels. In a reply to Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari's questions in the Parliament, the Union minister of state for housing and urban affairs Tokan Sahu had mentioned July 31 as the deadline. After city councillors, in March this year, rejected the integrated solid waste management plant citing flawed terms and conditions, and suspected financial misappropriation, no work has been started to work on the new project yet. The House had unanimously demanded fresh proposals with revised plans and conditions. The integrated solid waste management plant, approved by the MC in July 2023, was intended to address the city's growing waste crisis. Located in Dadumajra, the facility was designed to process 600 metric tonnes (MT) of waste daily, including dry, wet and horticultural waste under the same roof. To be awarded for a 17-year period (two years for construction and 15 years for operation and maintenance), the project was opposed by the councillors....