UP Pollution Control Board, or UPPCB, will issue a notice to Noida Authority for illegal garbage dumping in sectors 137 and 138.
The notice is in accordance with a solid waste management notification issued by the Ministry of Environment, Government of India, which prohibits littering and burning of garbage in the open.
“The way Noida Authority is dumping waste in the open is against the rules,” said Dr BB Avasthi, regional officer, UPPCB. “Our board is responsible for ensuring that the rules are adhered to and we will send Noida Authority a notice on October 7.” The notice will be served for dumping garbage in vacant plots in Sector 138, and in front of an under-construction Metro station and a park in the adjacent Sector 137.
The Authority has been around for the past 40 years but has no legal dumping sites yet. Since its inception in 1976, it has been dumping garbage in makeshift landfills across the city.
The Sector 137 park is surrounded by societies such as Poorvanchal Royal Park, Supertech Ecociti, Paras Tierra and Paramount Floraville. It was the residents of Sector 137 who brought the issue to UPPCB’s notice.
Vishnu Saini, a resident of Supertech Ecociti, Sector 137, said he had written to UPPCB and urged it to look into the matter. About 50 to 60 trucks are dumping garbage at a site near his apartment, causing the area to stink.
Manoj Srivastava, who resides in Paramount Floraville, Sector 137, had also written to UPPCB Chief Environment Officer SR Sachaan. He communicated to the officer that he had shifted from Vaishali to enjoy the green neighbourhood, but that it turned out to be an utter disappointment as the beauty of the place had been destroyed.
Pramod Singh Taragi, a resident of Exotica Fresco, Sector 137, said residents of his sector were determined to restore the area’s beauty. "We will mount pressure on the concerned authorities and get our sector cleaned," he said.
Noida Authority, however, seems helpless. YK Harish, sanitation inspector of the Authority, said there was no place to dispose of the garbage. “We have earmarked an area in Sector 138A to use as a landfill site,” he added. “We will clear the filth from sectors 137 and 138, and shift it to this site in a week’s time.”
Noida Authority has been planning to develop a solid waste management plant near Astauli Village, Greater Noida, for a long time. Although environmental clearance for the project is in place, in classic Noida Authority style, development is yet to take off.
