The East civic body-proposed waste processing plant in Ghonda Gujran is facing a hurdle from its own political wing, with Mayor Bipin Bihari Singh Friday saying in a House meeting that he will not pass the proposal to build it.
Earlier, the AAP and social activists had also protested the move, saying the site falls in the Yamuna’s floodplains and could further degrade the river.
Singh said, “Authorities have already said they cannot allow people to grow vegetables near the Yamuna as the area has become toxic. How then can we allow a waste-processing plant, which will further degrade the environment?”
The development has left East civic body officials in a tizzy, as they urgently need the site for waste-processing, with the existing landfill in Ghazipur operating beyond capacity.
A senior East MCD official said, “This has become an election issue. The political wing needs to understand that the proposed facility lies outside the river floodplains. This is not a landfill site, but a site for a waste-processing plant, which will segregate waste and convert it to energy.”
The proposed facility would fall within the North East constituency, from where AAP leader Dilip Kumar Pandey and BJP MP Manoj Tiwari are likely to contest.
The EDMC is now desperate for an alternate location, as the Ghazipur landfill site, fully saturated way back in 2000, continues to receive over 1,000 metric tonnes of waste from Delhi on a daily basis, even after 17 years of its scheduled closure.
The proposal for the plant had earlier hit a legal hurdle in 2017, when a principal committee appointed by the National Green Tribunal rejected it. The Central Pollution Control Board, however, gave it a go-ahead in 2018, stating that a portion of Ghonda Gujran could be allotted as it is in a ‘no-flood zone'”.
The DDA, however, has imposed strict restrictions, saying land allotment is subject to relevant clearances.