*PRESS NOTE* *Massive Rally Against Toxic Waste Incinerator at Okhla*
New Delhi, Saturday 29th -- Protesting against the location of a massive 2010 tonne waste incinerator close to their residences, hundreds of men, women and children marched through busy Mathura road on Saturday demanding their right to clean air and surroundings. A letter protesting against the hazardous Municipal Waste to Energy (WTE) plants has also been sent. The letter is attached. Carrying placards denouncing the government’s policy of bringing waste from other parts of Delhi to be incinerated near their homes, the marchers from Sukhdev Vihar, Jasola, Ghaffar Manzil and Haji colony peacefully marched to the site of the ‘waste-to-incinerator’ being built as a private-public partnership by Jindal Ecopolis. Earlier Jindal MD, Indresh Batra said the plant will eventually process 4,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste and rank among the world’s biggest plants of its type and that it had flue control systems capable of controlling the dioxins, furans, Sox , Nox and other toxic substances associated with waste-to-energy plants. However, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has refused to finance the plant which costs 200 crore rupees to build because of the several controversies surrounding the plant. The Supreme Court for example has banned ‘waste-to-energy’ plants, allowing only five pilot projects to test viability. The Jindal plant is not one of these pilot plants and the residents plan to file a contempt of court case with the Supreme Court against gross violations of its ruling. Already the residents have filed a Public Interest Litigation pending in the Delhi High Court against the construction of the plant since 2009. The High Court has observed during a hearing in November that construction was being pursued at the company’s own risk. The residents had protested against the handover of the land extending to 15 acres, close to the Indraprastha Apollo, Holy Family and Escorts Hospitals, to the Jindals by the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC). Among institutions that have protested against the plant are the Don Bosco Technical Institute, Cheshire Homes, India, Delhi Unit and the Carmelite Fathers who have several institutions in the area. Asha Arora, one of the organizers of Saturday’s rally, said the residents were determined not to allow the plant to come up. “This is a question of the health of our children and elders and we cannot compromise on this. Most of us have been living in this area for decades and cannot relocate,” she said. Businessman and resident Rajkumar Goyal said the government should not have even considered locating such a large incinerator near a thickly populated residential area of South Delhi. ‘We cannot understand how the government can so blatantly violate Supreme Court rulings made on the basis of committee it had formed for the purpose.” For details contact K.K. Rohatgi, Lawyer, Sukhdev Vihar Residential Area, 9810134860 Asha Arora, 9711408421, Gopal Krishna, ToxicsWatch Alliance: 9818089660, E-mail: [email protected] -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
Letter to Lt Governor, Delhi.docx
Description: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
