The National Green Tribunal on Friday directed the civic bodies and the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) to come out with a clear mechanism for setting up an integrated waste management plant at Ranikhera near the Delhi-Haryana border.
A Bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar asked the North and East Delhi Municipal Corporations, Delhi Development Authority and the DSIIDC to take clear instructions on the issue.
The NGT noted that the pieces of land at Ranikhera which have been earmarked for setting up of the waste management plant exist in four different pieces. “All these lands are abutting land which belongs to DSIIDC and it is stated to be presently lying vacant. Obviously the land is under DSIIDC is meant for industrial use,” it noted.
The green panel proposed that the land which belonged to DSIIDC can be used for setting up the plant and it can be given a different piece of land near the area measuring 16 acres for industrial use.
During the hearing, advocate Balendu Shekhar said it was not feasible for the EDMC to dump waste at Ranikhera as it was located at a far off distance from its Ghazipur landfill site. He also said the corporation does not have adequate number of trucks to carry the waste at the proposed site and sought land at Ghonda Gujran in East Delhi from DDA for waste dumping.
Advocate Kush Sharma, appearing for the DDA, told the bench that the land sought by EDMC fell in zone “O” of the Yamuna floodplains where construction activity has been prohibited by the NGT.