GMADA begins acquisition of 58 acres in Swara and Rasanheri villages After rejecting a 76-acre site in Sector 102-A,earmarked as a garbage dumping ground in Mohali,the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) has now selected another site for the purpose. GMADA has already initiated the process to acquire land at the new site 58 acres spread across Swara and Rasanheri villages on the citys outskirts. We have sought a no-objection certificate from the Deputy Commissioner before issuing the acquisition notice, GMADA Chief Administrator (CA) Vivek Partap Singh told Newsline. Following the rejection of the Sector 102-A site,GMADA had identified three new sites for the purpose. Before finalising one,it had hired National Productivity Council (NPC),New Delhi,to conduct a rapid Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) study of all the sites. Initially,the NPC had objected to the initial Swara site,as it was close to a school building,but later another plot of land adjoining Rasanheri village was approved. However,till the new site is acquired,Mohalis estimated 80 tonnes of solid waste generated daily will continue 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. On May 29,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 several residential colonies to another site by June 30. Five months down the line,the order remains unfulfilled as GMADA faces stiff opposition from area residents near the identified temporary sites in Industrial Area,Phase I,and Phase VI.
