Noida, Greater Noida to get first landfill

UP environment impact assessment authority has given its nod to the 61-hectare project in Astoli village

After years of delay, Noida and Greater Noida are finally close to getting a 61-hectare sanitary landfill site at Astoli village for scientific disposal of municipal solid waste.

In the absence of a proper waste disposal mechanism, authorities in Noida and Greater Noida have been dumping solid waste in open spaces. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

The Greater Noida authority, which is developing the landfill site for the two cities, has received the necessary environmental clearances from the state-level environment impact assessment authority (SEIAA).

“Now, we are in the process of hiring an expert consultant to help us in developing the waste disposal plant at the landfill site. The consultant will have the responsibility of selecting a private agency that will set up a plant for solid waste disposal,” said Deepak Agarwal, chief executive officer (CEO), Greater Noida authority.

The authority aims to make the landfill operational in April 2017. Officials said if all goes well they will hire a consultant and a private agency by the end of November 2016.

“Hiring of a consultant is at the final stages as we have sent our project for final vetting to Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi,” said Agarwal.

The planned city of Noida, developed 40 years ago, does not have a landfill site for disposal of its municipal solid waste. Greater Noida, another planned industrial town, which was established in 1992, also does not have a landfill site.

Officials said Noida and Greater Noida authorities will not have to spend funds for development and operations of the waste disposal plant.

“The agency will recover its money by selling compost and refuse derived fuel (RDF),” said Samakant Shrivastava, senior project engineer of the Noida authority. RDF is produced by shredding and dehydrating solid waste with a waste converter technology.