The two alternative sites suggested by DDA — Rani Khera village in North Delhi and the Yamuna floodplains in East Delhi — were found unsuitable to be used as garbage dumps.
Following the incident on Friday, in which part of the Ghazipur landfill in East Delhi caved in, killing two and injuring a number of people, EDMC has shockingly decided to continue dumping daily waste at the landfill site.
This is in contravention to the order issued by Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) Anil Baijal last Friday, saying garbage dumping at the site be stopped with immediate effect.
A series of meetings were held soon after the incident, in which government authorities, including the LG’s office, EDMC, the Delhi government and Delhi Development Authority, tried to provide alternative places to dump waste from East Delhi, which can amount to 3,000 metric tonnes a day.
However, the two sites suggested by DDA, the only land-owing agency in the city, did not pass muster with the authorities. While residents of Rani Khera, an urban village in North Delhi, held a massive protest against garbage dumping in the area, the Yamuna floodplains in East Delhi was rejected rightaway because of NGT’s ban on using the area as a garbage dumping site.
Anand Rana, one of the residents leading the protest, told City Spidey, “We will not allow our village to turn into a garbage dump. It is hazardous to the health of residents.”
Incidentally, EDMC had signed an MoU with the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to use waste from the Ghazipur landfill for widening work on NH 24. However, the project got delayed due to a disagreement on who would bear the cost of waste segregation.
According to sources, in the last meeting held two months back at the NHAI head office in Dwarka Sector 10, representatives of EDMC had argued that the cost should be borne by NHAI, as it was getting free waste material from EDMC.
Talking to City Spidey, EDMC mayor Neema Bhagat said, “Both alternative locations suggested by DDA have been opposed. Now we have no option but to continue dumping garbage at the same site until we finalise a suitable place. We are trying our best to find an immediate solution. If garbage is not lifted from residential colonies, it will be even more hazardous.”
