Ghaziabad to have a new landfill site

GNN HAS IDENTIFIED A NEW LANDFILL SITE WITH THE PROVISION OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT SCHEME

Ghaziabad: The longstanding complaint of Ghaziabad residents regarding the provision of a landfill site as the existing ones are almost filled is going to be attended as soon as the administration and Nagar Nigam finalise the site at Dunda Hera, followed by the provision for solid waste management system. According to Dr. KK Tyagi, health officer, GNN, "The landfill site at Dunda Hera has been finalised after the removal of stay order. We have already sent a letter to the administration in Lucknow for changing the land use and after that the site can be used for dumping the waste of entire Ghaziabad. In fact the Jal Nigam has been constructing a solid waste management system and it will also come into operation. Though another site was identified at Dasna but that couldn't be finalised."
Till now Ghaziabad has two landfill sites which are almost filled to capacity and third one has been closed by the department.
At a meeting on November 15, residents complained regarding the non-existence of a solid waste management scheme and proper provision for dumping grounds by GNN. In reply, DM Deepak Aggrawal assured that he would soon come up with some solution. He also informed that the department has identified two places as dumping ground but that proved to be futile because of opposition by some vested interests.
VP Sharma, member of federation of RWAs says, "A few years back, GNN, through a private company introduced the system of solid waste management on the model example of Kavi Nagar colony. Green and blue bins were put up and the company workers collected waste from homes. The waste was segregated and put accordingly in green and blue bins."
"Later on, workers of GNN protested against the system and it was stopped. Though as federation members and peoples' representatives we asked the GNN to identify five sites in Ghaziabad where the waste can be segregated as per solid waste management programme but hardly anything happened. In fact, certain amount was granted to GNN by government for the solid waste management programme and later some money was handed over to an NGO for this task and the city commissioner also made lots of promises but nothing happened," says chairman of the federation of RWAs Col. TP Tyagi. Even few months back, during the cleaning drive of Hindon River, in the presence of state Urban Development minister Nakul Dev, the city commissioner Ajay Shanker Pandey promised to start the solid waste management programme soon.

Handling Solid Waste in UP
Duty of District Magistrate
The Municipal Solid Waste (management and handling) rules 2000 (MSWR) had been notified with the intention of streamlining the technical and administrative method in which solid waste is handled in the country.
According to MSWR 2000, the overall responsibility for implementation of MSWR at the district level lies with the district magistrate, who must oversee the working of department under his/her criteria. The DM will have to receive regular reports from municipal authorities. Above all, the municipal department is totally responsible for developing the infrastructure for collection, storage, segregation, transportation, processing and disposal of solid waste under MSWR 2000. The Municipal Authority also has to grant authorization for setting up waste processing and disposal including landfill from state board and regularly report it to the district magistrate.
The responsibility for granting authorization for setting up of waste processing plants lies with SPCB (State Pollution Control Board).

Responsibilities of SPCB
SPCB should set up a WMC (Waste Management Cell) which will look after all possible aspects relating to management and MSW.
Moreover, SPCB may draw up a plan to organize events for interaction with all local bodies.

Site for landfills or dump
The selection of a landfill site will be based on examination of various issues. Before establishing any landfill site, baseline data of ground water quality in the area shall be collected and kept in respect for future reference. Proper documentation of various phases of its construction and enclosure. The landfill should be away from habitation zone, forest area, water bodies, monuments and national park. Ideally, waste processing facilities should be designed as an integral part of landfill site and should be also large enough to last for 20- 25 years.
But, unfortunately in Ghaziabad, no guidelines have been implemented to manage and decompose the waste. Stray animals crowd around landfill sites, creating traffic jams and leading to accidents.
But according to MSWR 2000 guidelines, entry of animals and unknown persons should be prohibited on approach and other internal roads for free movement of vehicles.

Last but not the least
The landfill should be properly sanitized and inspection camps introduced by municipal corporation. Solid waste is dangerous for all human beings. People may suffer problems in breathing, headache, general illness, skin irritation, allergy etc. due to open and untreated solid waste. As the administration and Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board pass the buck, hapless residents of Ghaziabad remain vulnerable to the hazards of solid waste.
Source: Jagran CityPlus