East MCD’s proposal to change land use on Yamuna floodplains for solid waste processing plant rejected

EDMC commissioner Vikas Anand had informed the Principal Committee that 2,600 tonnes per day of waste is generated in the EDMC area, and only 1,300 tonnes per day could be processed at Ghazipur landfill, with no land available to process the remaining waste.

In 2019, the DDA had allotted land at Ghonda Gujran for setting up a waste management facility. The DDA had later noted that part of the allotted land is in the ‘once in 25 years floodplains’ (likely to flood once in 25 years), and land use of the allotted land would have to be changed from ‘recreational’ to ‘utility’.

Experts on the Principal Committee found the proposal to be unviable. According to the minutes of the committee’s meeting held last month, Professor C R Babu of the Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystems said “it will be suicidal to allow solid waste management facility on active floodplain of river Yamuna in Delhi, where the river is already highly fragile.”

He informed the committee the proposed site is in the active floodplain and is surrounded by water bodies. If the project is implemented, “it shall lead to much more degradation of the ecology and environment, and shall pollute the river and groundwater, in terms of sedimentation load and other factors,” as per the minutes.

The EDMC’s proposal has been discussed by the committee before, and it had asked the corporation to explore another location for the project. The EDMC commissioner said the corporation has written to the DDA requesting another site for the project since Ghazipur landfill is saturated.

On a site visit for the DDA’s floodplain restoration project, expert members of the committee had noted that two villages, Garhi Mandu and Usmanpur, are on the floodplains. The committee has suggested that these villages should be relocated and the area should be restored.

A K Gosain, Professor Emeritus, IIT-Delhi, also told the committee that, during the site visit it was noticed that “huge plantation activities as a part of compensatory plantation are being carried out in the floodplain area of the river. Also, such dense large tree plantation is not recommended in active floodplains as it will convert the active floodplain to mono-culture dense forests. This shall also cause obstruction to the flow of the river. Therefore, the Delhi government should be directed that such compensatory activities should be prevented in the floodplain and if required, be only carried out in the outermost area of it, where floodwater reaches only in 1 in 50 years or so.”

The committee has also directed the Public Works Department, Delhi, to submit the details of the proposed project for an elevated road on the floodplains from Wazirabad to the DND flyway. It has directed that no work is to be undertaken till the proposal is considered by the committee.

As per the minutes of the meeting, Professor Babu said that “it was suggested that PWD’s proposed project is cutting across the floodplain. The project shall lead to fragmentation of the floodplain and shall have serious ecological hazard”.

Chief Engineer (Flyover), PWD, told the committee that the elevated road is meant to decongest the Ring Road.

The committee, constituted in 2017, is chaired by the Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.