Ghaziabad: Four years after the work on the proposed 44.2-acre waste-to-energy (WTE) plant in Hapurs Galand got suspended over protests by locals, the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC) is now searching for alternative land of around the same size for collecting the citys waste and turning it into compost as a stopgap arrangement. Currently, Ghaziabad generates 1,400MT waste daily, with 600MT turned into compost daily on a 10-acre plot on pipeline road.The pipeline road site became operational in July this year after garbage piled up at the 30-acre Morta site due to a lack of waste processing. However, the GMC officials said it is too small to contain the amount of waste the city generates, and the situation will only become more dire as the population spikes over the next few years.We proposed finding an alternative land in our last meeting because we can not wait any longer for the Galand WTE plant. We need at least 40 acres to process the waste generated by the city. If you see, Noida has a much bigger land for waste processing, so the waste does not just pile up there. We are using windrow technology to convert large volumes of diverse waste into compost at the pipeline road site, said a senior GMC official, adding that a selected company will use the same technology at the alternative site once it becomes operational.The upcoming Galand plant will be an improvement as it will convert the waste into energy and generate power of at least 60 MW/day once operational. According to officials, Galand is the permanent solution, but till it is ready, the municipal corporation has to prioritise other solutions. The municipal commissioner also agreed that the Galand WTE plant is taking too long and that the city needs more land immediately to process its waste, said officials.In 2018, the state government inked an agreement with a Netherland-based company, GC International, to develop the Galand WTE plant in 18 months. However, with locals protesting against the plant, work has been stuck since. The protesters even brought down the boundary wall of the plant, with the district administration now seeking police help to get the work done.We have written to the Hapur district magistrate, who has written to the superintendent of police and additional director general of police to provide personnel near the Galand site, so the company can expedite the work. The plant will be the permanent solution for Ghaziabad and Hapur districts. So, the districts have to coordinate and soon start work on it. Meanwhile, we are searching for bigger land in Ghaziabad city as the current 10 acres is insufficient, said GMC commissioner Vikramaditya Singh Malik.The state energy and urban development minister is directly monitoring the work on the Galand plant. According to government sources, parties with a vested interest, who have plotted land in the vicinity, are driving opposition to the plant. So, the Meerut divisional commissioner has directed the GDA secretary to create a list of the nearby plots and ensure their demolition at the earliest.According to officials, the pipeline road site will also process 2,000 tonnes of waste per day soon.

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