After Indirapuram and Pratap Vihar, third waste dump rises in Ghaziabad’s Morta

However, officials of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation said that the Morta site is a waste processing facility and not a garbage dump

The Ghaziabad municipal corporation has claimed to have cleared approximately 650,000 metric tonnes of legacy waste from the two major sites in Pratap Vihar and Indirapuram, even as a third pile-up has begun to emerge at Morta near the Delhi-Meerut Road.

The new dumping site at Morta near Delhi Meerut Road in Ghaziabad on Friday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Environmentalists have complained about the dumping activity over 25 bighas of land in Morta and said the garbage heap is now about 25 to 40 feet high.

However, officials of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation said the Morta site is only a waste processing facility and not a garbage dump.

“A massive solid waste dump has begun to take shape, causing problems to residents and several educational institutions in the area. We have filed complaints at several levels and with the Uttar Pradesh pollution control board. The garbage heap is approximately 25-40 foot tall, and steadily increasing. The corporation has no solution to the problem of city’s solid waste,” said Vikrant Sharma, an environmentalist and lawyer.

Ghaziabad generates an estimated 1,400 metric tonnes of solid waste per day. Without a solid waste processing facility, the waste is transported to the civic body’s site in Morta for further processing. However, despite more than two years of planning, the proposed waste-to-energy plant in Galand (Hapur district) is yet to take off.

“We have at least 1,600 students studying here, and the solid waste dumps are causing problems for them and the staff. One of the major dumps is 500 metres from our school, and another is 50 metres away. The corporation must stop this activity because it is dangerous to one’s health,” said IK Thakur, the school’s director (commercial).

The UP pollution control board (UPPCB) officials said that the civic agency had yet to receive a no-objection certificate from them.

“The dump site is on land leased from Morta farmers, and the agency has received no NOC/permission from the pollution control board. However, we’ve received complaints from activists and will inspect the site soon. We inspected about a year ago, and the agency officials said it was a temporary solid waste processing site. They also said that machinery removed from the Pratap Vihar and Indirapuram sites had been relocated to the Morta site,” said Utsav Sharma, regional officer of the pollution control board.

The corporation’s officials maintain that the Morta site is a waste processing facility in operation since 2018. They also claim that some prospective land buyers are creating an issue to force farmers to sell their land at low prices.

“The land in Morta is in high demand due to its proximity to the Regional Rapid Transit System. The site is not a dump but a facility that processes approximately 1,400 metric tonnes of solid waste daily. After 50-60 days, the wet waste is converted into manure. We are ensuring that there are no unsanitary conditions near the site,” said Mithilesh Kumar, the corporation’s city health officer.

He said that the National Green Tribunal had refused to stay the construction of a solid waste transfer station in Jhandapur, Sahibabad, in a decision issued on March 6.“

“The tribunal issued this decision while considering that land availability is a major issue and that facilities should be improved,” Kumar added.