Green court says Noida authority can keep using Sector 145 landfill

After residents approached the National Green Tribunal (NGT) against dumping of waste in Mubarakpur village near Sector 145, the court on Thursday allowed dumping at the spot till a more permanent solution can be sought. The court has directed a committee to look into the matter and find a permanent solution for waste disposal and management in Noida.

Earlier, the NGT had directed Noida authority to stop dumping waste in Sector 54, following which protests erupted at two other spots that the authority had identified for waste disposal.

The decision comes as a blow to applicants, who argued that the dumping of waste from across Noida in the area is environmentally hazardous for residents. They also argued that the waste was not being scientifically disposed of and a dumping ground wasn’t mentioned in the earlier plans of the area.

“According to the order, for any further decision, we have to approach the committee that was formed for solid waste management. We are still unsure how this committee will operate and how best to approach them,” Sanjay Upadhyay, advocate for Jan Andolan, said.

Jan Andolan is the residents’ group from Noida that appealed against the landfill site in Mubarakpur. The case was filed about two months ago and four hearings have already taken place. Meanwhile, an NGT bench issued an order on August 20 regarding expediting solid waste management plans of all states across the country.

According to this order, all states have to submit their solid waste management plans by October 31 and have to implement the same by December 31. Additionally, committees will be formed at national and regional levels to monitor all solid waste management plans.

On Thursday, the NGT bench referred the Noida case to the committee formed through the August 20 order. While the order is clear that dumping in Mubarakpur will continue only till a permanent solution is ready, residents are worried that this would take a long time.

“The order will have to be discussed with the committee, along with matters from other cities and states. This will be a time-consuming procedure and the urgency of the matter may be lost. By the time we get any help, a lot of waste would already have been dumped at the site,” Upadhyay said.

Meanwhile, officials from Noida authority said the order only supports the authority’s efforts to keep the city clean.

“We are trying our best to maintain cleanliness by using the landfill site in Mubarakpur. This will eventually be remediated and the final soil and other by-products will be used in filling up roads and low-lying areas. We also regularly penalise those found dumping waste illegally or at unauthorised spots,” SK Gupta, senior project engineer (health), Noida authority, said.

He added that while collection of domestic waste is done regularly, residents need to fix time for dumping of waste. Since, waste is dumped at the collection centres throughout the day, it makes the city look dirty, officials said.

“We appeal to RWAs to dump waste before 10am or after 5pm, so that the city remains cleaner during the day. Our collection vehicles usually collect waste by 10am, but if dumping continues throughout the day, waste cannot be managed,” Gupta said.

First Published: Aug 31, 2018 04:04 IST