GDA to fund bioremediation of Indirapuram landfill
GHAZIABAD: With the Ghaziabad municipal corporation moving out of the landfill site in Indirapuram, the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) will now take over the dumpyard and clear the accumulated solid waste, estimated to be about 20,000 metric tonnes.
The site at Shakti Khand has been on target of local residents, who also moved a petition before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in 2018, highlighting the rampant non-compliance of Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, due to open dumping without any segregation of waste, besides rapid deterioration in the air quality, which they said aggravated due to fire at the dumpyard.
Following the directions of the tribunal, the corporation started work for bioremediation at the site in October, 2020. The officials estimated that there was about 150,000 metric tonnes of legacy waste at the site.
“The corporation has moved out of the site and we conducted bioremediation of about 100,000 metric tonnes of solid waste. In between, fresh waste was also dumped and we cleared about 25,000 metric tonnes from the site. Now, the fresh waste left behind is about 20,000-25,000 metric tonnes, which will be taken up by the development authority,” said Mahendra Singh Tanwar, Ghaziabad municipal commissioner.
The site at Indirapuram spans about 12 acres of land and it also has residential areas in the vicinity.
Ghaziabad city generates about 1,200 metric tonnes of solid waste daily and improper disposal has upset its annual Swachh Survekshan ranking, said sources.
The non-availability of landfill sites and gaps in solid waste processing hampered the city’s prospects in last year’s Swachh Survekshan as it ended up in the 18th position in the category of cities having a population between 1-4 million. During the 2020 survey, the city had secured the 19th rank, while in 2019 it was in the 13th spot.
Indirapuram locality is maintained by GDA and officials said that daily solid waste generation is about 100 metric tonnes.
“We have chalked out a detailed plan to give the bioremediation work to the same agency which was hired by the corporation. The rates will also be the same and the work can start soon without the vendor having to compile an altogether new set-up. The authority will pay about ₹1.9 crore to the corporation for the purpose,” said AK Chaudhary, an executive engineer at GDA.
Chaudhary said that fresh waste will continue to be dumped at the site, but at a specified location.
“We are waiting for the waste to energy plant that will come up at Galand, where ample land is available. As soon as the corporation gives us the nod, we will send Indirapuram’s solid waste to Galand or any other designated site. We are expecting that the bioremediation work at the Indirapuram site will start within a week,” Chaudhary added.
The officials of the corporation said the bioremediation work at the other landfill site at Pratap Vihar will also be completed in the next two months, which has around 450,000 metric tonnes of solid waste. The Pratap Vihar landfill site was shut down in January 2019, on the directions of the Ngt-appointed Uttar Pradesh solid waste monitoring committee.
GHAZIABAD CITY GENERATES 1,200 METRIC TONNES OF SOLID WASTE DAILY. IMPROPER DISPOSAL LED TO A POOR SWACHH RANKING IN 2021