NGT seeks authority reply on landfill site in Noida Sector 137

The NGT direction came in response to a petition filed by Sector 137 residents who are troubled by the air pollution caused by the dump yard.

The National Green Tribunal on Monday asked the Noida authority to provide details of Sector 138A dump yard, located along the Noida Expressway.

The residents of Sector 137 had held a protest against the dump yard in their vicinity earlier as well. (Virendra Singh Gosain/HT PHOTO)

The NGT direction came in response to a petition filed by Sector 137 residents who are troubled by the air pollution caused by the dump yard.

“The NGT directed the Noida authority advocate to inform whether Sector 138A was earmarked to be a dump yard. The authority has been asked to submit its reply on September 15, the next date of hearing in the case,” said Sabah Iqbal Siddiqui, advocate for the petition.

Gaurav Choudhary, a resident of Sector 137, had filed a petition in the NGT over the issue on August 28.

The authority dumps solid waste at a vacant site in Sector 138A, which is surrounded by the newly developed apartment complexes. Residents said the illegal dump yard in the vicinity of a residential area has created health issues for families, particularly schoolchildren.

“We submitted before the NGT that the dump yard in question has been set up illegally, in violation of laid down environment rules. The NGT has also asked the authority whether it has got the sanctioned landfill site for solid waste disposal. Also, the illegal dump yard has contaminated the groundwater and also polluted the air, thereby causing health issues to families living around the dump yard,” Siddiqui said.

Sector 137 houses half a dozen apartment complexes. The site in question is located next to these apartment complexes.

A principal bench of the National Green Tribunal, headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar, has directed the Noida authority to furnish its reply.

“The question here is how the Noida authority decided to dump the waste anywhere at its will, without sparing a thought about its perils on residents in the areas surrounding the dump yard,” Siddiqui said.

The Noida authority has earmarked a 110-acre site in Greater Noida’s Astoli, where solid waste will be dumped. The waste from Greater Noida will also be treated at the Astoli landfill site, which is yet to be ready.

“We are doing earth filling at the Sector 138A dump yard to ensure that it does not emanate a stench. We are yet to finalise a private agency that will treat waste scientifically. We will treat the waste at Astoli and also at designated sites in Noida,” said Raghunandan Yadav, senior project engineer, Noida authority health department.