Noida authority seeks UP Pollution Control Board’s clearance for Sector 123 landfill

The move comes in wake of a October 24 order by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directing the Noida authority and the state of Uttar Pradesh to complete the construction of a waste-to-energy plant within six months from the date of order.

The Noida authority on Thursday said it has sought help from the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) to get environmental clearances for site earmarked for a landfill at Sector 123.

The site for setting up a landfill in Sector 123. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

“In compliance with NGT’s orders, we met the pollution board officials and they have inspected the Sector 123 site. We have also started the process of roping in a central government consultant who will guide us in hiring a private agency for setting up a waste-to-energy plant,” said RK Mishra, additional chief executive officer of the Noida authority.

The move comes in wake of a October 24 order by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directing the Noida authority and the state of Uttar Pradesh to complete the construction of a waste-to-energy plant within six months from the date of order.

The NGT said the Noida authority can use Sector 123 land as a temporary site for dumping waste. The order, however, adds that whatever municipal waste or other waste is dumped here, it shall be dumped strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Municipal Solid Waste (management and handling) Rules-2016.

Officials of the Noida authority said they will get environmental clearance from all authorities, including the UPPCB and the state environment impact assessment authority, as per the waste management rules-2016.

According to the solid waste management rules, 2016, sanitary landfill site should be 100 metres from a riverbed, 200 metres from water bodies, highways, habitations, public parks and water supply wells. Also, landfills are not permitted near floodplains, as recorded for the last 100 years and should be at least 20 kilometres from airports.

The Sector 123 site is near the Hindon river floodplains, several housing complexes, villages and a national highway.

In its edition on October 26, the Hindustan Times reported that last year, the Noida authority had rejected this site as a landfill in 2016 on environmental grounds. The authority had communicated its rejection of the proposed site as a sanitary landfill in a letter written on September 14, 2016, to a resident of Sector 121 Taran Dhingra.

Meanwhile, members of the Bharatiya Kisan Union staged a protest against dumping of waste at the Sector 123 site. Villagers from Gadi Chaukhandi and Basi also joined the protest.

“The landfill next to our houses will pollute the air and make our life miserable,” a resident of Gadi Chaukhandi Kaluram Yadav said.