A Year after proceedings were initiated to acquire 76 acres of land earmarked in Sector 102-A for a garbage dumping ground in Mohali,the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) has now abandoned the site declaring it inappropriate. Instead,GMADA has identified three new sites for the purpose and has hired National Productivity Council (NPC),New Delhi,to conduct a rapid Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) study of the sites. Till the site is finalised,almost 80 tonnes of solid waste generated daily from Mohalis 2.5 lakh population continues to be dumped in the densely inhabited Industrial Focal Point,Phase VIII-B,in contravention of the order issued by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. Badal,who is also the GMADA Chairman,had ordered to shift the garbage dumping ground from the present site surrounded by IT majors like Quark,Dell and residential colonies to some other site by June 30. Two months on,the CMs order remains unfulfilled as GMADA had to face stiff opposition from two temporary sites in Industrial Area,Phase I,and Phase VI identified for shifting the dumping ground. With no alternative in sight,GMADA approved to conduct an EIA study of the three new sites at its fifth meeting,chaired by Badal in Chandigarh recently. GMADA also approved the budget of Rs 12 lakh plus service tax to be paid to NPC for conducting the surveys on sites located in Nagiari and Tangori villages on Kharar-Banur Road and Rasanheri village on Mohali-Landran-Sirhind Road. It was also decided to await the NPC study report before initiating the proceedings to acquire at least 50 acre land required for dumping the solid waste generated presently. On October 3 last year,GMADA had issued a notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act,1894,to acquire 76 acres land in Sector 102-A for the garbage dump earmarked in Mohalis final notified masterplan. Later,in view of the high land costs,GMADA decided to acquire only 26 acres,for which a final notification was issued on January 12. Meanwhile,Arun Goel,secretary,Housing and Urban Development,Punjab,formed a technical committee,headed by Punjab State Council for Science and Technology Executive Director Dr N S Tiwana,to recommend technologies required to be adopted at the site. In its interim report submitted on April 1,the Tiwana Committee apprehended that the Sector 102-A site may not meet the criteria for clearance from the environmental point of view. It proposed that GMADA may take suitable action for securing the environmental clearance before proceeding further in the matter. Among other objections,the expert committee observed that Mohalis solid waste is likely to grow up to 2,280 tonnes daily till 2020 when the citys projected population will be 28 lakh and for this purpose,125 acres is required for its dumping and treatment. It also recommended conducting an EIA study of other sites and getting prior clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests,Civil Aviation and Defence Ministries besides authorisation from the Punjab Pollution Control Board for operation of the facility.
