Officials of GDA rule out shifting the garbage site but promise steps to ease the problem of smoke.
Indirapuram residents protest in Ghaziabad demanding shifting of garbage dump
Indirapuram residents from different colonies and areas on Sunday took out a protest march in Ghaziabad township to express their fear of a huge garbage dump coming up in their neighbourhood.
Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) has been dumping garbage at its dumpsite located near the Indirapuram sewage treatment plant in Shakti Khand. Now the residents of complexes nearby in Shakti Khand 4, the worst affected area, took out the march in which people from other colonies in the region as also from high-rise buildings took part.
Residents told City Spidey that stench that emanates from the dump was anyway a problem. But it gets accentuated when garbage is burnt, emanating thick fumes of toxic smoke. “The smoke from this dump makes life unbearable,” said Praveen Kumar, a resident of Shakti Khand 4. “We have approached every authority with our plight, but to no avail."
The protesters congregated at Aman Plaza in Shakti Khand 4 and marched to the dumping ground. From here more residents joined the procession that headed its way to Ghaziabad township. "Indirapuram Bachana Hai, Dumping Ground Hatana Hai"( We have to save Indirapuram, we have to move the dumping ground) was the main slogan shouted by the protesters as they marched.
The Ghaziapur landfill is a classic example of urban waste disposal disaster, the residents said adding that they wanted the dumpsite to be shifted before the problem got out of hand, like it happened in Ghazipur.
Jayati Jain, a resident of Rishabh Cloud 9, a high-rise in Ahinsa Khand 2, told City Spidey that she often woke up to pungent and smoke-filled air from the dumpsite. “We used to wonder about the presence of smog in the warmer season, but later understood that it is smoke from the dumpsite,” she said.
She further explained that the garbage problem had to be smartly managed by properly implementing processes like segregation. “It is common sense that dumping tonnes of garbage in one place will form a garbage mountain someday. A garbage mountain in the middle of a residential area is bad for the health and well-being of residents. It must be shifted soon,” Jain said.
Officials of the GDA told City Spidey that the dumpsite has been there ever since the inception of the Indirapuram project adjacent to the sewage treatment plant.
SK Chauhan, executive engineer of GDA, said that there was no possibility of shifting the dumpsite to any other location. “The garbage from the whole of Indirapuram is dumped in the site, and it is not feasible to shift it to any other location because of the extra cost and lack of space,” Chauhan said.
“To check the fires, we are planning to instal sprinklers that can automatically douse any fire in the area. The site will be surrounded by a boundary wall and a guard will be posted to check the entry of people in the area. Many times people who enter the location to relieve themselves drop burning beedis [hand wrapped cigarettes] which cause fires,” Chauhan added.
