Officials asked to expedite work on Galand waste plant
Police force will be provided to ensure there is no law-andorder problems at the proposed site.
The divisional commissioner (Meerut) has directed officials in Ghaziabad and Hapur districts to coordinate and expedite the construction of a boundary wall at the 44.26-acre site in Galand where a 2,300 metric tonne-capacity waste-to-energy plant is slated to come up. The plant has been delayed for almost two years and was scheduled for commissioning by 2022, said officials.
The waste-to-energy plant was proposed at the site in Galand, which falls in Hapur district in the year 2018. The physical possession of the land is still not available with the Ghaziabad municipal corporation due to protests by local residents who allege that the plant will lead to unhygienic conditions in the surroundings.
As per proposals, the plant will process solid waste collected from Ghaziabad, Hapur, Loni and Dasna and convert it to 40megawatt energy.
Officials of the two districts held a detailed meeting over the construction of the plant, which was chaired by the divisional commissioner of Meerut, Selva Kumari J.
“It has been directed by the commissioner that the construction of the boundary wall at the plant site needs to be expedited and Hapur officials will provide police force to ensure that there is no law-andorder issue at the site. The company which is scheduled to construct the plant has also applied for a two-year extension for completing the project and the proposal has been sent to the Uttar Pradesh government,” said Nitin Gaur, Ghaziabad municipal commissioner.
Officials said that once the boundary wall at the site comes up, the plant will take two years to get completed.
The plant was proposed at Galand after the previously proposed solid waste management plant at Dundahera near Crossings Republik township ran into rough weather.
In December 2016, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) quashed the environment clearance issued for the Dundahera project and also the no objection certificate (NOC) issued by the UP Pollution Control Board.
Ghaziabad city presently generates about 1,200 metric tonnes of solid waste on a daily basis and the corporation procured temporary sites for processing the waste, including its own dry waste processing plants at Sihani and Ret Mandi and two wet waste processing plants at Vijay Nagar and Muradnagar.
“The officials seem to be disinterested in constructing the plant. It has led to a delay in the implementation of the Solid Waste (Management) Rules. Further, a lot of funds and resources have been diverted for waste processing at other sites,” said Akash Vashishtha, a city-based environmentalist.
NITIN GAUR, municipal commissioner, Ghaziabad