With the deadline set by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for the shifting of the dumping ground from Industrial Focal Point,Phase VIII-B,to Industrial Area,Phase I,due to expire on June 30,the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) is in a fix. It was on Wednesday that the Municipal Council (MC) had refused to comply with the CMs order after Badal asked the development authority to temporarily shift the ground to MCs cattle land,till a permanent site was earmarked for the solid waste treatment plant (SWTP). And,with GMADA obliging to the civic bodys decision two days later,uncertainty prevails on the matter. GMADAs problems began when the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) and the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology (PSCST) refused to approve the site earmarked to establish the SWTP in Sector 102-A. As proposed in Mohalis outline Master Plan,GMADA had undertaken proceedings to acquire 27 acres of land in Sector 102-A,for which even the compensation award,at the rate of Rs 1.5 crore per acre,was finalised. The PPCB and PSCST,however,rejected the approval,pointing towards several discrepancies at the site. A senior GMADA official told Newsline that in view of the discrepancies found in the SWTP site,the development authority withheld its decision to go ahead with the setting up of the treatment plant in Sector 102-A. Two other sites identified in Jagatpura village and behind Dara Studio in Phase VI were also found unsuitable for the setting up of the SWTP. Jagatpura comes under the flying path of the upcoming Mohali international airport,while the low-lying Phase VI site gets flooded during rains, said the GMADA official. In view of the MCs refusal,the development authority is now looking for an alternative site for dumping Mohalis daily estimate of 125 metric tonnes of solid waste and garbage. We are making efforts to arrange for an alternate site,but till that happens,we will have to continue dumping garbage at the present site, said the official. In the absence of an SWTP,Mohalis solid waste and garbage is being dumped at the present site,which is surrounded by industrial and residential areas. Past controversiesThis is not the first controversy related to the shifting of the dumping site. Stoked by public protests,the dumping ground had in the past been shifted from near Verka Milk Plant,Jagatpura and Mauli Baidwan villages. Chandigarh says noAs a short-term arrangement,the Deputy Commissioner,Mohali,had requested the Chandigarh Administration last year to allow dumping of Mohalis solid waste at the citys (Chandigarhs) upcoming waste processing and disposal facilities unit. The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation,however,turned down the request.
