Waste remediation work begins in Noida sector 54

Around 80,000 metric tonnes of solid waste has been dumped at Sector 54. The Noida Authority had to stop dumping waste at Sector 54 after the an order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had banned it from doing so.

Noida Authority chief executive officer (CEO) Alok Tandon on Sunday opened a plant for waste remediation (process of segregating and treating waste through chemicals) facility in Sector 54. The plant is aimed at treating waste scientifically and clear forest land currently being used to store waste.

Machines have been set up to start the process of segregating and treating waste through chemicals at Noida sector 54. (Sunil Ghosh / HT Photo)

Around 80,000 metric tonnes of solid waste has been dumped at Sector 54. The Authority had to stop dumping waste at Sector 54 after the an order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had banned it from doing so. The NGT had, in June 2018, also directed the Authority to clean the stored waste and free up the occupied forest land at the earliest. On June 14, 2018, the Noida Authority had roped in a private agency, Zigma Global Environ Solutions Private Limited for remediation work. According to the contract, the Authority will pay ₹1,193 per metric tonne for waste remediation, officials said. This amount will include packaging, loading, unloading and transportation of the refuse-derived fuel (RDF).

“The agency will take six months to complete the remediation of waste stored in Sector 54. Once the job in Sector 54 is done, the agency will move to Sector 145, where we are storing waste,” the CEO said.

The private agency had first sprinkled chemicals on the waste to stabilise it at the initial level. The chemical helped make solid waste dry. As the waste is now stabilised, the remediation process has been started through machines. The agency has set up machines at the site for the remediation job. The remediation will segregate soil and plastic. Soil will be used for earth filling and plastic material will be provided to a cement plant in Jaipur, officials said.

The Uttar Pradesh government had on April 23, 1976 established the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA). Noida consists of 81 villages and 168 sectors, which includes land meant for residential, commercial and industrial purposes, spread on an area of approximately 20,316 hectare of land. Officials said Noida has a population of around 10 lakh, and treating municipal waste scientifically has been a huge challenge.

“Noida produces 600 metric tonnes of waste daily. According to preliminary analysis, 45% of the waste is organic in nature whereas 25% is recyclable, 25% is inert and around 5% is scrap. We will be able to treat it scientifically with the remediation process,” Tandon said.

Noida has around two lakh metric tonnes of waste lying at different sites which include sectors 54, 123, 138A, 68 and 145.

“After waste at the Sector 54 site is cleared, we will set up machines at Sector 145 and start remediation there. We will transport waste from Sector 123 and other areas to the Sector 145 site to finish the task of remediation,” Tandon said.