Ghaziabad: Housing board, civic body clash over demolished waste facility

A conflict arose between the UP Housing Board and Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation over the demolition of an "illegal" waste facility in Vasundhara.

A conflict has erupted between the Uttar Pradesh Avas Vikas Parishad (UP Housing and Development Board) and the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation after the housing board demolished a material recovery facility (MRF) under construction in Vasundhara’s Sector 8 on Tuesday, officials said. The housing board termed the MRF “illegal”, while the municipal corporation defended its construction, citing a lack of alternative space for solid waste segregation.

The demolished under-construction material recovery facility in Vasundhara Sector 8 on Wednesday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The corporation’s chief engineer, NK Chaudhary, criticised the board’s action, adding, “The housing board did not serve us any notice and demolished the MRF facility, which was meant for segregating dry waste. The Vasundhara scheme was handed over to us in 2002, and no separate place has been earmarked for solid waste management.”

However, the housing board maintained that the corporation had encroached on about 100 sqm of prime land in Sector 8 without necessary approvals. According to AK Mittal, the superintending engineer of the board, “The handover of the scheme does not mean the corporation can take up construction arbitrarily. The MRF facility would have caused unhygienic conditions and inconvenienced residents.”

To be sure, the demolition was carried out under the provisions of the UP Urban Planning and Development Act, 1973. According to the housing board officials, around 10 acres of the 100 sqm of prime land is to be handed over for the development of a satellite centre of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). They added that the satellite centre of AIIMS is getting materialised after the initiative taken by UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

Mittal further noted that the land in Sectors 7 and 8 is valued at approximately ₹1,000 crore and falls within a transit-orientated development (TOD) zone. The region, located within 1.5km of the Namo Bharat Sahibabad RRTS station, is designated for commercial and mixed-use development under the draft Master Plan 2031. “A solid waste facility in this zone would jeopardise investment and development. Additionally, the corporation did not raise any concerns about land for waste management during the Vasundhara scheme handover, for which we also paid ₹3 crore,” he added.

The Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation currently generates 1,200-1,500 metric tonnes of solid waste daily. As part of its waste management strategy, it plans to establish 20 MRF centres, of which six have already been completed.