Ghaziabad: Joint panel to assess waste dumping at Raj Nagar Extension

A petition was filed by Vikrant Sharma, a lawyer and resident of RNE, who contended trucks of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation were bringing and dumping solid waste over a 20 bigha land at Bhatta Number 5 Road near RNE

The National Green Tribunal (NGT), while hearing a petition filed by a resident of Raj Nagar Extension (RNE) on Thursday, issued directions for the formation of a joint committee of officials, who will assess the factual position of dumping of municipal solid waste near RNE and take remedial measures to address the issue within two months. The joint committee has also been directed to submit a report on the action taken with regard to waste dumping.

The municipal corporation started dumping solid waste near RNE after the site at Pratap Vihar was shut down. (Sakib Ali/HT Archive)

The divisional commissioner (Meerut), officials of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), state pollution control board, Ghaziabad municipal-corporation and Ghaziabad district magistrate have been asked to be a part of the joint committee.

A petition was filed by Vikrant Sharma, a lawyer and resident of RNE, who contended trucks of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation were bringing and dumping solid waste over a 20 bigha land at Bhatta Number 5 Road near RNE.

“The state PCB will be the nodal agency for coordination and compliance. The meeting will be presided over by the commissioner, Meerut division which may be organized within two weeks and remedial action taken within two months thereafter. The joint committee may also interact with the concerned authorities of the Hindon air base and other stakeholders,” the tribunal said in its order.

“The joint committee may ascertain whether there is any plan for waste management in the city of Ghaziabad. It may be further examined whether requisite processing plant to process day to day waste has been set up,” said the order.

Sharma said the RNE residents were suffering due to the unhygienic conditions resulting from dumping of solid waste. Recently, residents in the area also protested against the waste dumping.

“It is an achievement for us that the tribunal has taken cognisance and admitted our petition. It has also roped in the divisional commissioner, who we expect will try to resolve our issues. The RNE is about 6km away from the Hindon airbase. Dumping solid waste here may attract birds, which could pose as a problem to aircraft,” said Sharma.

The tribunal has also sought replies on whether the existing legacy waste at the Shakti Khand dumping site at Indirapuram has been tackled and asked for a report in this connection.

Currently, Ghaziabad city generates about 1,200 metric tonnes of solid waste daily. The city’s biggest landfill site at Pratap Vihar was shut down in January 2019 on the directions of the UP solid waste monitoring committee that was set up on the directions of the tribunal.

Officials said the landfill site at Pratap Vihar has about 4.5 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste, which will be completely processed by the end of the current financial year. The Shakti Khand site has about 1.5 lakh metric tonnes of solid waste, which is likely to get processed by October.

The municipal corporation started dumping solid waste near RNE after the site at Pratap Vihar was shut down. Following protests from RNE residents, the civic body diverted their vehicles to Galand in Hapur district, where a waste to energy plant has been proposed.

“We faced protests from locals and Galand and are trying to resolve the issues here. We have stopped dumping waste near RNE and are taking the waste to our garbage factories at Sihani and Ret Mandi. Another factory will come up at Shakti Khand site. We will comply with the directions of the tribunal,” said municipal commissioner M S Tanwar.