NOIDA: The residents near the proposed waste plant in Sector 123 have decided to raise their objections before the National Green Tribunal in the coming days. “We believe that the tribunal has been given only partial information before it cleared Sector 123 for waste-to-energy plant. We will tell the tribunal that Master Plan 2031 also has Sector 151 marked as a sanitary landfill zone and could be a better fit for the project,” Anupam Oberoi, a resident of Sector 122, said.
The sanitary landfill and waste-to-energy plant is in very close proximity to populated sectors of 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 68, 74 and villagers of Behlolpur, Garhi, Chaukhandi, Parthala Khanjarpur, Sorkha, Sarfabad, Bassi and FNG Vihar. The proposed site is only nine metres from Garhi and 136 metres from Choukandi. It is 150 metres from Homes 121 - the nearest 14-acre residential complex in Sector 121. Nearly 2 lakh people reside in the vicinity of the site.
The residents and buyers who are set to challenge the NGT order have also accused the Noida Authority of lack of vision in town planning. They have demanded that all activities be stayed until a permission is received from the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) for the same.
“While several violations have already taken place, there is no environment clearance for the project at the moment. The questions we are posing are why has Sector 151 not been chosen. How come an area which is marked as a recreational green area be converted to a landfill. We demand some documents to be made public, including the detailed planned report of the project. An environment impact assessment should be done. Clearances should be asked from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the Union ministry of environment and forests. We also want full disclosure of the process being adapted for the treatment of leachate. Also where would the liquid waste be discharged? Will it be sent to the Hindon bed?” asked Oberoi.
However, city-based architects feel that there would not be any
visual pollution in the region in the long term as the landfill would be underground and it would have a park on top.
“The scope for visual pollution in the region is limited in the long term as a recreational green space will be created over the landfill as the entire exercise is underground. But the plant should have come up 10 years ago when there was no population there. Also, it should not have been located so close to residential complexes,” Atul Garg, president of architects association, Noida region said.