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BS Malik
The project of the Sonepat Municipal Corporation (MC) to set up a solid waste management plant on its land near the DCR University of Science and Technology, Murthal, has got embroiled in a controversy. The university staff and students and the villagers living nearby the site proposed for the plant are opposing it. The MC had earlier unsuccessfully tried to build a plant at four other sites in Harshana, Jat Joshi and Devru villages and in Rajiv Gandhi Education City for dumping of solid waste collected from municipal areas. It later finalised 15 acres of gram panchayat land at Murthal village and started dumping around 200 tonnes of waste there every day.
An appeal seeking stay on dumping of waste was filed in a local court stating that foul smell emanating from the site was creating problems for the university students and staff. Initially, the court granted interim stay. However, it lifted the stay on a plea of the MC authorities that the corporation owned the land where the waste was being dumped and all measures were being taken to control the emission of foul smell. Also, the construction of a solid waste management plant was in the pipeline. The court kept the case for further hearing.
The university students as well as teaching and non-teaching staff members organised a protest and locked the main entry gate of the university. They demanded shifting of the dumping site, which is close to the university, and threatened to start an indefinite strike. Vice-Chancellor Rajindera Kumar Anayath also supported the students saying that they and the staff members were disturbed over the foul smell originating from the dumping site. The university had also lodged a complaint with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and a team of the green tribunal was expected to visit the site soon.
Simultaneously, the representatives from 24 villages of the Antil Khap met at Murthal village on January 17 and resolved to oppose the setting up of the plant at the panchayat land. They also decided to make a representation to the NGT, opposing the plant. They pleaded that the dumping of waste would not only pollute the air, subsoil and water, but would also become a breeding ground of mosquitoes and flies.
Those who participated in the khap panchayat also pointed out that the MC had taken over 15 acres of the panchayat land for the plant when Murthal village was brought under its jurisdiction. But now the village has been excluded from its jurisdiction and the MC has lost the ownership of the land being used for dumping waste.
Vikram Singh, MC Executive Officer, claims that they are taking all necessary steps to stop foul smell from the site. A solid waste management plant is the only solution not only to manage waste but also to produce electricity and manufacture organic fertiliser from it.
Deputy Commissioner Vinay Singh organised a meeting of the representatives of the concerned villagers with officers of the MC and the State Pollution Control Board. He asked the villagers to form a 21-member committee and offered to organise a visit of the members to three solid waste management plants operating in Delhi at government expenses. A list of 27 persons to be made members of the committee was handed over to the Deputy Commissioner.
The plant will be set up on 15 acres within the revenue boundaries of Murthal village at an estimated cost of Rs 145 crore. It will process 500 metric tonnes of waste every day to produce electricity and organic fertiliser. It will not be used for dumping of waste but only for processing waste.
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