NGT to check if alternate landfill sites fall on Yamuna bed

NEW DELHI: Responding to the ruling AAP's plea, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday said that it would examine whether the proposed alternate landfill sites at Sonia Vihar and Ghonda Gujran areas are located on the Yamuna floodplains.

A bench headed by acting NGT Chairperson Justice Jawad Rahim and Justice SP Wangdi observed, "We will examine and consider if the two sites fall on the Yamuna floodplains. We will be considering all the issues."

AAP spokesperson Dilip Kumar Pandey and others have also sought directions to restrain the DDA from allotting 130-acre at Sonia Vihar and 50-acre at Ghonda Gujran to the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) for handling and processing of the waste. The sites were proposed as the existing site at Ghazipur is saturated.

The order came after the green panel was informed by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) that a similar matter was pending in the Supreme Court. Advocate Balendu Shekhar, appearing for EDMC, said Ghazipur landfill site has got saturated and there was an urgent need for an alternative landfill site to avoid any untoward incident.

The lawyer told the bench that the land was identified after NGT's indulgence when a chamber meeting was held where senior DDA officials had assured the tribunal about the availability of these sites. He said the DDA had granted in principle approval for these sites based on the recommendations of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI). The NGT, however, questioned the petitioners and said the issue of landfill sites in the national capital was going on for a long time and why had they approached it at this juncture. The matter was listed for next hearing on May 21.

The petition filed by Pandey and others had said that the project would adversely affect the eco-system of the area as there were several densely populated colonies and villages nearby. The plea, filed by Pandey and others, had said the "mindless setting up of a land-fill site adjacent to the Yamuna, a natural water resource, will be affecting the integrity of the flora and fauna of the water resource, which would affect the overall ecology of the area and result in bad health conditions of the people who are living nearby the allotted land".

It had said the approval given on the basis of recommendations of the Central Pollution Control Board and NEERI is based on wrong facts and it violated the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016.