The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC) to clear civic waste dumped in an undesignated landfill in Indirapuram’s Shakti Khand area.
The Tribunal gave 30 days to the civic body to clear 1.5 lakh tonnes of waste lying at the site.
Taking serious view of the issue, the NGT bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, judicial member SP Wangdi and expert members Nagin Nanda and Siddhanta Das lambasted GMC and said, “The clearance of legacy waste dump site at Indirapuram must commence within one month which will be responsibility of the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Ghaziabad.”
GDA will have to bear the cost of clearing the Indirapuram site. The development agency has pegged the cost at Rs 4 crore.
The court gave the order while hearing a plea filed by by the members of the RWA of Trans-Hindon in 2018. The petitioner had contended that the waste has been posing serious health hazards to residents in the vicinity.
The RWA complaint states that, “site has become displeasing and the presence of bad odour, rodents, pests etc. hinders the life of people living in adjoining areas.”
In its order, the NGT said, “The sewage management and remediation of drains to start within one month at least by way of phyto/bio remediation which will be the responsibility of the Municipal Commissioner, Ghaziabad. Any deficiency of funds may be made up in consultation with the Secretary, Urban development, UP as well as Secretary, Housing and Urban Planning, UP.”
The 30,000 sqm of land was originally allotted for a sewage treatment plant. However, over past years, the area was converted into one big dumping yard.
At present the mountain of waste is approximately 15ft high.
The green tribunal also ordered a committee comprising the district magistrate, vice-chairperson of the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) and a representative each from the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board and Central Pollution Control Board to identify other such dumpsites in a month.
These landfills will have to be cleared within a month after they have been identified.