Ghaziabad mayor seize nine trucks, alleges Delhi’s solid waste dumped in Gzb
Mayor said the trucks were seized after she went on an inspection following a tipoff she received about Delhi’s waste being dumped in Ghaziabd
Alleging that daily solid waste from Delhi was being transported and dumped at Ghaziabad municipal corporation’s waste processing facility in Morta, Ghaziabad mayor Sunita Dayal on Friday seized nine trucks laden with what she claimed was solid waste.
She said the trucks were seized after she went on an inspection following a tipoff she received about Delhi’s waste being dumped in Ghaziabad.
Nitin Gaur, the municipal commissioner, said that he has ordered a thorough inquiry into the issues the additional municipal commissioner tasked with the probe will submit a report in two days. Two Ghaziabad municipal corporation officials have been issued show cause notices following the seizure of trucks.
However, Ankit Agarwal, chief executive officer of the waste processing company, Geron Engineering, said trucks were carrying refuse derived fuel (RDF) from Delhi landfills for his private plant in Bahadarpur in Ghaziabad. The trucks were headed to Bahadarpur, not Morta, he said.
Dayal on Friday said the trucks allegedly bore markings of “MCD” -- Municipal Corporation of Delhi-- and were stopped midway between Nandgram and Pipeline Road and handed over to police. Three of these trucks were later taken to Nandgram police station.
“I received information that trucks from Delhi were dumping their waste in Ghaziabad. I went to check the issue and stopped nine trucks in Ghaziabad. I have been told that these trucks were dumping Delhi’s solid waste in Ghaziabad. I am in the process of registering an FIR against three trucks while action against six other trucks will be initiated on Saturday. I have also informed authorities at the state level of the activity. Such activities cannot take place without the connivance of our municipal staff and officials,” Dayal said.
Ghaziabad city generates about 1,400 metric tonnes of daily solid waste which is processed at a temporary site in Morta.
“Our waste is not getting fully processed and the site currently has a “hill of garbage”. The company assigned the job of processing waste in Morta is processing Delhi’s waste. Once we start getting trucks from Delhi, our problems will increase and I will not allow that to happen,” Dayal said.
.“The waste processing at Morta is assigned to a private company. After the issue of trucks from Delhi transporting waste to Morta came to fore, I directed that an inquiry be conducted in the matter. I have also issued show cause notices to an additional municipal commissioner and the city health officer in the matter,” Gaur said.
Agarwal, CEO of Geron Engineering, denied that any solid waste from Delhi is being brought to Morta for processing. He said the trucks were carrying refuse derived fuel (RDF) from Delhi for his private plant in Ghaziabad.
“The incoming RDF is raw material/fuel for my waste-to-energy plant in Bahadarpur (Ghaziabad) where I have private land and a new plant. The trucks were headed to Bahadarpur, not Morta. The RDF was being transported from Bhalaswa and Ghazipur sites in Delhi and I have a right to bring in raw material from any part of the country by following proper norms,” Aggarwal said.
He added that his new waste-to-energy plant is getting constructed by his other group company which is no way associated with the corporation.
“The trucks are of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and are GPS fitted. So, their route can be tracked at any point of time. The trucks were never headed for Morta,” Aggarwal insisted.
A response from MCD was awaited till the time of filing of this report.
