Garbage set afire days after Noida gets action plan to combat pollution

The garbage kept burning for at least seven hours with residents stating that no one from the Noida authority or the pollution department came to douse the fire

Days after the Gautam Budh Nagar administration approved of a pollution mitigation plan for the winters, a large pile of garbage dumped on the roadside was set afire in Sector 63 on Saturday.

Residents of Bahlolpur village shared some videos of the incident on social media. (Sourced)

The garbage kept burning for at least seven hours with residents stating that no one from the Noida authority or the pollution department came to douse the fire.

A common sight near Bahlolpur village in Sector 63, the garbage was set ablaze allegedly by some ragpickers on Pushta road along the Faridabad-Noida-Ghaziabad (FNG) Expressway, locals said.

The residents’ welfare association (RWA) members of Bahlolpur on Saturday also shared some videos of the burning garbage on social media. Stating that the garbage dumping and burning have become a menace in their area, they said the waste from the local vegetable market was burnt during the afternoon and kept smouldering till evening.

“We have complained several times about the garbage burning to the authority officials. It often happens that garbage is set ablaze and we have to call the fire department to douse the flames. The authority workers clean the area, but garbage is dumped in the night and set afire next day. The residents suffer as the foul smell reaches out to their houses,” said Sonu Yadav, vice-president of Bahlolpur RWA, Sector 63, who shared the video on social media.

“It’s a continuing issue and happens primarily because the authority is least bothered about it. It’s dangerous especially when the air quality has started to deteriorate,” said Vikrant Tongad, a Noida-based environmentalist.

The action plan prepared by the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) was released on October 6 by the district administration that also asks for formation of quick response teams to check open burning, among other measures.

UPPCB officials said that they will look into the incident. “Open burning of the garbage is banned throughout the year anyway. I will direct the officials concerned to check the same,” said Utsav Sharma, acting regional officer, UPPCB, Noida.

Noida authority officials could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

Noida generates around 700 tonnes of domestic waste daily. The door-to-door garbage collection covers 220 high-rises having 140,000 apartments, about 98 RWAs having 40,000 houses and about 70 small and big villages within the city, the officials said.

After collection, the garbage goes to 21 different transfer stations of the Noida authority, where the waste is separated manually with the help of ragpickers and later sent to the main storage facility at Sector 145.