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Noida: Victory for Sector 137 residents as NGT bans dumping in adjoining landfill site
The landfill site earmarked in Greater Noida’s Astoli— a 110-acre plot—is not ready for dumping solid waste. Instead, the Noida authority has been using a vacant plot in Sector 138A
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The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday directed the Noida authority to stop dumping waste at vacant land in Sector 138A, which is not a designated landfill site.
After the NGT order, the Noida authority is left with no site where they can dump their waste collected from residential and industrial areas. The landfill site earmarked in Greater Noida’s Astoli— a 110-acre plot—is not ready for dumping solid waste. The waste from Greater Noida will also be treated at the Astoli landfill site, which is yet to become ready.
“I do not know where we will dump the solid waste collected from residential areas. We will consult our advocate on this issue and see what can be done to treat the waste,” said Raghunanda Yadav, senior project engineer of the Noida authority.
The NGT is scheduled to hear this case again on December 6 as the Noida authority could not file its reply despite being giving additional time on August 29. The NGT had asked the Noida authority whether the site in question is an approved landfill site or not.
On Tuesday, a principal bench of the NGT, headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar, heard the case and passed an interim order.
The order came in response to a petition filed by Gaurav Choudhury, a resident of Sector 137, who objected to the site being used like a landfill as it causes pollution in the neighbourhood. Sector 137 is home to many housing complexes. Troubled by the pollution caused by garbage dumping at the site, residents had sought relief from the NGT.
“The chairperson, in an interim order, directed the Noida authority that if the site in question in Sector 138A is not a designated site for dumping garbage, then the authority should immediately stop dumping solid waste there. The NGT also directed the authority to provide details of the site in the next hearing scheduled on December 6,” said Sabah Iqbal Siddiqui, advocate for the petitioner.
