Samsung plant fined for dumping waste in Sector 80

NOIDA: The Noida Authority and the state pollution control board have imposed three fines of Rs 5 lakh each on a factory of South Korean multinational Samsung for dumping construction and demolition waste in Sector 80.

The move comes in the wake of multiple complaints by residents of Sector 79, claiming that the waste that is being dumped is neither covered nor sprinkled with water. “We have issued three penalties of Rs 5 lakh each, amounting to Rs 15 lakh in total, on Samsung (C&T) for not disposing of their C&D waste properly. Trucks carrying waste were found to be uncovered and there was no water sprinkling in the area,” said Anil Singh, regional officer in the UPPCB.An official of Samsung C&T said they were yet to get any notice from the UPPCB or the Noida Authority.

The public health department of the Authority also imposed a penalty of Rs 10,000 on the private agency entrusted with transporting C&D waste of the company to the site of a proposed plant in Sector 80. The Authority acted on a specific complaint by activist Vikrant Tongad.

“The Authority had initially not found any irregularity in the dumping of C&D waste. However, after we produced Google map images, it was evident that the company was disposing waste in an open area without taking any precautions. The designated area for the upcoming C&D plant is in Sector 80, a little over 500 metres away,” said Tongad.

Residents of Gaur Sportswood in Sector 79 have sent more than 30 complaints over the past few days to UPPCB and the Authority against the upcoming C&D waste recycling plant there. The residents have expressed concern that the plant is about 100 metres from their society, and hundreds of trucks have been dumping construction waste at the site without sprinkling water.

“We have received no assurance from either the Authority or UPPCB regarding our complaints. If the situation continues, the area will soon be engulfed in dust, triggering serious health concerns. We will approach the National Green Tribunal if there is no response from authorities,” said Suresh Bajpai, a resident of Sector 79. The Samsung C&T plant in Sector 81, inaugurated by the Prime Minister in July 2018, is being billed as the world’s largest mobile manufacturing unit.

Source : The Times of India