Ghaziabad proposes plant in Indirapuram for converting solid waste to biofuel

The plant has been proposed at an 11-acre plot opposite Kanawani, where waste is currently dumped.

The Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) has proposed a waste-to-biofuel plant at Indirapuram which will scientifically process the entire bulk of municipal solid waste produced in the area on a daily basis.

The municipal corporation is yet to make waste-to-manure plant in Pratap Vihar, Ghaziabad, operational. (Sakib Ali/Ht Photo)

The prime locality near Delhi produces an estimated 100-150 metric tonnes of solid waste every day.

This waste is currently dumped in the open at an 11-acre plot opposite Kanawani near the sewage treatment plant built along the CISF-Vasundhara Road, and burnt.

The GDA has planned the project with a public sector undertaking (PSU), which will now present the proposal before its board for final approval.

“Under the proposed project, the Ghaziabad civic body will lease land to the PSU for setting up a plant for scientifically converting solid waste to biofuel,” GDA vice-chairperson Ritu Maheshwari said.

The proposed plant will come up at the 11-acre site where garbage is being dumped. In October, locals had protested against the open dumping of waste at the site.

“The solid waste here is dumped in an unscientific manner and burnt by locals causing pollution. Leaching also contaminates the earth,” Mohan Sangwan, a resident of Shakti Khand, said.

Indirapuram is home to many businesses and service-class residents, most of whom had migrated from different areas of the NCR in search of affordable housing.

The locality houses more than 100 high-rise residential buildings and daily disposal of solid waste is a major issue.

The locality is managed by GDA and is yet to be handed over to the Ghaziabad municipal corporation.

“The entire investment will be done up by the PSU and they will develop the plant on the land we will provide on lease. They will get the revenue from the by-products generated. This will solve a major issue of scientific disposal of daily solid waste,” Maheshwari said.

In December last year, the National Green Tribunal had quashed the environmental clearance and the NOC granted by the UP pollution board for a proposed scientific solid waste management plant at Dundahera near NH-24. The site was proposed to process the entire daily solid waste of Ghaziabad but residents opposed the move as many residential buildings were close by.