Ghaziabad civic body to expedite work on Galand waste processing plant

The site at Galand falls in Hapur district and covers an area of 44.26 acres. The land was handed over to the corporation by the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) for the purpose of the plant, which the officials said will now cater to the solid waste from all the local bodies from Ghaziabad, Pilkhuwa and Hapur

With the Swachh Survekshan 2022 already underway, officials of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation plan to expedite the work for the upcoming waste-to-energy plant at Galand.

The plant will have a capacity of around 2,500 metric tonnes and will initially work on 1,600 metric tonnes of waste. (Sakib Ali)

The officials said that the work for the boundary wall will be taken up first with the help of the police authorities as authorities have faced resistance from the local population time and again.

The site at Galand falls in Hapur district and covers an area of 44.26 acres. The land was handed over to the corporation by the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) for the purpose of the plant, which the officials said will now cater to the solid waste from all the local bodies from Ghaziabad, Pilkhuwa and Hapur.

“The plant will have a capacity of around 2,500 metric tonnes and will initially work on 1,600 metric tonnes of waste. Since there has been opposition from the local residents, we will now take the help of police personnel to build the boundary wall,” said Ghaziabad municipal commissioner MS Tanwar.

The boundary wall will measure 2,300 metres and a part of it was demolished by local residents in November 2021.

“We have also sent a word to all the local bodies such as the nagar palikas and nagar panchayats in Ghaziabad as well as local bodies of Pilkhuwa and Hapur, so that the waste generated in these places can also be processed at the Galand plant,” Tanwar added.

It is expected that after the BJP’s win in the recent assembly polls, the government will expedite the construction of the plant for which the state government has already selected a firm from The Netherlands in 2018.

At present, Ghaziabad has no landfill site available and the corporation has already set up two wet waste processing centres in Vijay Nagar and Muradnagar, while dry waste processing plants have been set up at Ret Mandi in Nandgram and Sihani Road.

Together, the four plants cater to about 1,000-1,200 metric tonnes of solid waste daily, which the city generates every day.

The plant at Galand will convert waste to energy and will be supplied to the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited under an agreement.

The earlier proposed solid waste management plant at Dundahera near the Crossings Republik also ran into rough weather.

In December 2016, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) quashed the environment clearance issued for the Dundahera project and also the no objection certificate (NOC) issued for the plant by the UP Pollution Control Board.