Residents, activists raise alarm over landfill in Ghonda Gujran
Sitting and chatting with three other neighbours in a cowshed, Raj Choudhury a resident of Garhi Mandu village on the eastern banks of the Yamuna, was apparently tense.
“Ever since we heard that the civic authorities are planning to come up with a new dumping site at Ghonda Gujran, people are spending sleepless nights thinking about the future of our children. We won’t allow any waste management site here at any cost,” he said.
After the Ghazipur landfill site accident last week, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation has become active on its demand to provide new land for establishing a new site.
The proposed site at Ghonda Gujran is located off the Pushta Road between Shastri Park and Wazirabad and is barely two kilometres from the banks of the river Yamuna. The bowl-shaped site is more than 10 feet below the road level and retains flood and rain water for days. It is now used for cattle grazing.
Even though the civic officials refused to divulge any details about the new landfill site, the project seems to have already run into rough weather. Thousand of locals had staged a protest on Thursday vowing not to allow the area turn into a dumping yard.
“Earlier the authorities had stopped farming in these areas claiming that the fertilisers were adding to the river’s pollution. Will not the dumping yard cause more pollution and contaminate the river water?” said Rekha Rani former local councillor.
A section of the locals who live in shanties at flood banks are also apprehensive that they would be evicted.
“We are poor people. Someone told us that we would be evicted very soon. Where are we supposed to go?” said Regina Bibi a
RIVER EXPERT MANOJ MISHRA HAS ALSO SHOT A LETTER TO THE CM
AND LG NOT TO ALLOW A DUMPING YARD ON THE YAMUNA FLOODPLAINS
local resident.
EDMC officials however said that they have not asked any resident to vacate the land. “There is no question of eviction as the project is still in planning stage,” said EDMC official.
River expert Manoj Mishra has also shot a letter to the chief minister and Lieutenant governor requesting them not to allow any dumping yard on the Yamuna floodplains. Other experts have also raised concerns.
“A dumping site on the flood plains would be catastrophic. It would not just play havoc with the ground water recharging process but the leachate could also contaminate the river water,” said ecologist CR Babu.
Sources said that the project had earlier been denied permission by an NGT-appointed committee. On the contrary, civic officials claimed that the plant would be developed with modern technology and all precautionary measures would be taken to ensure it doesn’t affect the ecosystem as well as floodplains.
“Our plan is to come up with an integrated solid waste management plant where waste would be segregated and treated with minimum emission and residue. There will be no garbage mountain unlike Ghazipur,” said Ranbir Singh, commissioner, EDMC.
The officials also added that most of the houses constructed on floodplain were illegal and if timely action is not taken the encroachment would expand to take over the entire 150 acres of vacant land on the flood plain.
“At present, two villages exist here and despite allotting them land at new Usampur area and new Garhi Mandu years ago, people have not shifted. The encroachment is increasing,” said a senior official.
Earlier when the civic authorities had attempted to shift the dumping to a site at Rani Khera in northwest Delhi, villagers were up in arms. Irate residents had even deflated the tyres of the vehicles.
The civic authorities said that the National Green Tribunal will now decide the fate of the project.