Ahmedabad: Environmental clearance will be sought by AMC to develop 40 lakh square metres of land located within a 500-metre radius of Odhav and Vinzol landfill sites; the state govt had rejected the plan earlier.Gujarat Pollution Control Board had directed that environmental clearance be obtained before seeking development permissions.The AMC’s standing committee on Thursday authorised the Ahmedabad municipal commissioner to appoint a consultant to obtain environmental clearance from the Centre.In Jan 2024, the standing committee approved a proposal to task Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) with studying the lands surrounding Odhav and Vinzol landfill sites.CSIR-NEERI’s report recommended that the construction ban within the 500-metre radius of landfill sites be lifted.The institute suggested that the construction ban be imposed within a 30-metre radius.AMC submitted the report to state urban development department, which authorised the implementation of the recommendations, including the mandate to obtain environmental clearance.Thus, AMC plans to formulate new rules and create a development plan.In 2014, construction was banned on approximately 21 lakh square metres of land under three TP schemes surrounding the Odhav landfill site.Moreover, development was restricted on 22 lakh square metres of land across more than three TP schemes surrounding Vinzol.Although AMC and Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (Auda) had already approved plans for over 800 flats and other housing structures in these areas, the issuance of Building Use (BU) permissions for these projects was halted.BOXStopping land wastageIn Phase 1, the hazardous landfill site at Odhav had the capacity to store 3.8 lakh metric tonnes of waste. The site was filledIn Phase 2, the site had a capacity of 9.7 lakh metric tonnes of waste, but it received 11.5 lakh metric tonnesLater, the site was landscaped and renamed Paryavaran MandirIn 2018, people complained that Paryavaran Mandir was being used as a party plotAMC sealed the area and imposed a penalty of Rs 10 lakh on Naroda Environment Private Limited for lapsesDevelopment within a 500-metre radius of Odhav and Vinzol landfill sites has been banned since 2014In Jan 2024, AMC’s standing committee tasked Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) with studying the land within the 500-metre radius of Odhav and Vinzol landfill sites.CSIR-NEERI recommended restricting construction to within a 30-metre radius of both landfill sites.AMC will draft new rules to prepare a development plan for the lands surrounding the sites
