Citing CPCB affidavit, Ghaziabad residents say it’ll take 94 years to clear waste at Ghazipur landfill

The Kaushambi Apartments Residents Welfare Association (Karwa) on Monday said that the bioremediation/biomining of the legacy waste at the Ghazipur landfill site is going on at a very slow pace and that the residential body will soon bring this fact to notice of the Supreme Court

The Kaushambi Apartments Residents Welfare Association (Karwa) on Monday said that the bioremediation/biomining of the legacy waste at the Ghazipur landfill site is going on at a very slow pace and that the residential body will soon bring this fact to notice of the Supreme Court. Office bearers of the association claimed that it will take 94 years to clear the 140 lakh tonnes of waste from the site if the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) maintains its current pace of bioremediation work.

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Karwa moved the apex court in September last year over the issue of pollution from the landfill site, contending that it is one of the major sources of pollution affecting the residents.

The association first filed a petition with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) over the issue in September 2015. Later, it moved the apex court in September last year and notices were issued to respondent agencies of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh in October last year.

“In response to our petition, we recently received an affidavit filed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). They have stated that bioremediation work is going on at Ghazipur landfill, but only 1.5 lakh metric tonnes of waste has been bioremediated/biomined in the past one year out of 140 lakh tonnes of waste dumped at the site. We calculated that with this rate, it will take about 94 years to complete the entire process,” said VK Mittal, president of Karwa.

He said that the affidavit was submitted before the apex court by CPCB in January and the association recently got an access to the affidavit.

“We will now file a counter affidavit that the court must intervene at the lax rate of bioremediation/biomining at the landfill site. This will lead to polluted air surroundings with which residents of Kaushambi are already suffering and will also affect the groundwater of the area,” Mittal added.

HT has a copy of the affidavit filed by the CPCB. “I will have to check the documents before making any comment over the issue,” said a senior officer from CPCB.

A senior EDMC official, who did not wish to be named, said, “We cannot comment on the affidavit filed by another agency. However, greening efforts are being made to reduce the height of the landfill as well as process the waste.”

The Karwa moved the Supreme Court with contention for stoppage of different sources of pollution affecting the township that has about 22 high-rises with an estimated population of about 20,000.

Pollution levels are already high in Kaushambi due to its close proximity to Anand Vihar and Kaushambi inter-state bus terminals, Ghazipur landfill site and Sahibabad industrial area. The residential area is also affected by heavy vehicular traffic throughout the day.