GHAZIABAD: Sunita Dayal, the newly elected mayor of Ghaziabad, got nine vehicles of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) confiscated after they were found transporting waste to plants in the NCR city.
Dayal, who has been conducting surprise checks at the city’s waste collection points, made the trucks fall in line – one after another – and took them to the Muradnagar police station, where they were impounded. An FIR was registered against the private firm that was transporting the waste on behalf of MCD.
Officials said the trucks were carrying waste from the landfills in Delhi’s Bhalswa and Ghazipur and dumping it at the recovery facility in Morta over the past few days.
“I had been getting complaints about waste lying untreated in Morta as the machines there are not working. When I visited the facility on Friday, I found the allegations to be true. The firm managing the facility has dug a 20ft deep pit to dump the waste. But no segregation is being done,” said Dayal.
That MCD trucks were dumping waste for the past few days came to the mayor’s notice while she was sifting through the official register. “I was shocked that trucks from Delhi were dumping waste in our city. The register had all the records – from the number of the truck to the amount of municipal waste it was carrying,” she said.
When the mayor came out of the Morta plant, she found three MCD trucks making their way into the facility. “When I enquired about the trucks, the drivers admitted they were carrying waste on behalf of MCD,” Dayal said.
The drivers also admitted that six more trucks were dumping waste along the Pipeline Road between Loni and Muradnagar. “I took away the keys to the three trucks and rushed to Pipeline Road. And yes, there were six MCD trucks dumping waste there,” the mayor said.
The trucks were then taken to Muradnagar police station, where an FIR was registered against the private firm managing the vehicles.
Dayal insisted she would not allow Ghaziabad to become a dumping ground for other corporations. “We are paying a private firm Rs 3 crore to recycle the city’s waste. I have requested the state government to blacklist the firm and confiscate its machinery in Morta while I initiate the process to cancel its tender.”
Dayal warned that civic officials found guilty would not be spared either. “I refuse to buy the theory that officials were not in the know of things as MCD trucks kept dumping waste there. Heads will roll if officials are found guilty,” she said.
Told about the allegation, Mithilesh Kumar, the municipal health officer, said, “A private firm, Geron, is developing the facility in Morta. There will be an investigation to find out how trucks from Delhi were dumping waste in Ghaziabad for days.”
Ankit Agarwal, the director of Geron, said his company was ready to face any investigation.
Asked about the MCD trucks that were seized, he said, “There is another company, Rollz India, that is setting up a waste-to-energy plant in Bahadurpur off Pipeline Road. It is being set up on private land outside the Ghaziabad civic body’s jurisdiction. The MCD trucks that were seized were carrying refuse-derived fuel (RDF), which is different from municipal solid waste, to the plant that is being constructed. Rollz India is not bound to outsource the RDF from any other plant.”
Agarwal later clarified he was the CEO of Rollz India too.
Dayal, who has been conducting surprise checks at the city’s waste collection points, made the trucks fall in line – one after another – and took them to the Muradnagar police station, where they were impounded. An FIR was registered against the private firm that was transporting the waste on behalf of MCD.
Officials said the trucks were carrying waste from the landfills in Delhi’s Bhalswa and Ghazipur and dumping it at the recovery facility in Morta over the past few days.
“I had been getting complaints about waste lying untreated in Morta as the machines there are not working. When I visited the facility on Friday, I found the allegations to be true. The firm managing the facility has dug a 20ft deep pit to dump the waste. But no segregation is being done,” said Dayal.
That MCD trucks were dumping waste for the past few days came to the mayor’s notice while she was sifting through the official register. “I was shocked that trucks from Delhi were dumping waste in our city. The register had all the records – from the number of the truck to the amount of municipal waste it was carrying,” she said.
When the mayor came out of the Morta plant, she found three MCD trucks making their way into the facility. “When I enquired about the trucks, the drivers admitted they were carrying waste on behalf of MCD,” Dayal said.
The drivers also admitted that six more trucks were dumping waste along the Pipeline Road between Loni and Muradnagar. “I took away the keys to the three trucks and rushed to Pipeline Road. And yes, there were six MCD trucks dumping waste there,” the mayor said.
The trucks were then taken to Muradnagar police station, where an FIR was registered against the private firm managing the vehicles.
Dayal insisted she would not allow Ghaziabad to become a dumping ground for other corporations. “We are paying a private firm Rs 3 crore to recycle the city’s waste. I have requested the state government to blacklist the firm and confiscate its machinery in Morta while I initiate the process to cancel its tender.”
Dayal warned that civic officials found guilty would not be spared either. “I refuse to buy the theory that officials were not in the know of things as MCD trucks kept dumping waste there. Heads will roll if officials are found guilty,” she said.
Told about the allegation, Mithilesh Kumar, the municipal health officer, said, “A private firm, Geron, is developing the facility in Morta. There will be an investigation to find out how trucks from Delhi were dumping waste in Ghaziabad for days.”
Ankit Agarwal, the director of Geron, said his company was ready to face any investigation.
Asked about the MCD trucks that were seized, he said, “There is another company, Rollz India, that is setting up a waste-to-energy plant in Bahadurpur off Pipeline Road. It is being set up on private land outside the Ghaziabad civic body’s jurisdiction. The MCD trucks that were seized were carrying refuse-derived fuel (RDF), which is different from municipal solid waste, to the plant that is being constructed. Rollz India is not bound to outsource the RDF from any other plant.”
Agarwal later clarified he was the CEO of Rollz India too.