Residents urge authorities to stop dumping waste at Ghaziabad’s Indirapuram landfill

Around 1,200 metric tonnes of fresh solid waste has piled up at the Shakti Khand landfill in Indirapuram, much to the displeasure of local residents. The residents have also demanded the authorities to immediately stop the dumping of solid waste at the landfill.

The site has been under continuous monitoring of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which had earlier directed agencies in Ghaziabad to clear all the legacy waste at the site, which is adjacent to residential areas.

On Tuesday, dozens of vehicles of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation which were laden with solid waste were seen lined up outside the landfill site. The local residents said that there has been an attempt to dump fresh solid waste at the site and rains will further aggravate the matter.

“It is an attempt to dump fresh solid waste at the site and this will again compound problems for the high-rises, schools and other commercial complexes in the vicinity. Not only it is a threat to the environment but the site may prove detrimental for public health. We demand that dumping should stop here but dozens of vehicles carrying solid waste were seen waiting for their turn to enter the premises,” said Kapil Tyagi, a resident of a high-rise.

The confederation of trans-Hindon RWAs is contesting a petition with the NGT. They moved the tribunal in 2018 and said that there was non-compliance of Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2016, due to the open dumping of solid waste without any segregation.

“Despite the bioremediation, the site is unhygienic and foul smell emanates from the landfill. Dumping must be stopped at the site as it affects the environment and public health,” said Kuldeep Saxena, convener of the trans-Hindon RWAs.

Officials of the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) said that legacy waste has been cleared from the landfill, but about 1,200 metric tonnes of fresh solid waste is still present at the site.

“It is because the site at Galand (proposed for a waste to energy plant) is yet to come up. A plant was set up at the Indirapuram site for bioremediation but it is shut now. As soon as the plant at Galand comes up, we will start sending the solid waste there,” said AK Chaudhary, GDA executive engineer and in charge of Indirapuram.

During the course of hearing the petition, the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) in 2019 submitted an inspection report to NGT.

One of the recommendations of the report stated, “The dumping yard at Shakti Khand-4 in lndirapuram is not a scientific landfill. If dumping is continued, then generated leachate shall percolate to groundwater and will lead to its contamination. As the dumpsite is located in a thickly populated area, further dumping of waste has to be stopped immediately so as to curtail any further damage to the environment and to avoid a situation similar to dumpsites in Delhi and elsewhere in the country.”

Meanwhile, officials of the municipal corporation said that the dumpsite is only being used as a transition stop.

“We have a waste processing facility at Mehmedabad and it is about 18-20km away from this site. So, our door-to-door collection vehicles cannot go there. Instead, they come to this landfill site in Indirapuram from where the waste is taken to Mehmedabad in bigger vehicles. The bigger vehicles take up the solid waste the same day or the next day,” said Mahendra Singh Tanwar, Ghaziabad municipal commissioner.

“It is a fact that the corporation has a shortage of waste processing facilities. So, agencies such as the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and UPPCB should monitor the site and find out if any dumping is taking place. Open dumping cannot be allowed in residential areas,” said Akash Vashistha, a Ghaziabad-based environmentalist.