Around 40 people detained for protesting against garbage dumping in Aravallis

Faridabad police on Saturday detained around 40 people protesting against the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad’s (MCF) alleged dumping of municipal solid waste at the Aravalli foothills on the Gurugram-Faridabad Road, police said

Faridabad police on Saturday detained around 40 people protesting against the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad’s (MCF) alleged dumping of municipal solid waste at the Aravalli foothills on the Gurugram-Faridabad Road, police said.

Cops seen removing protesters from the site. (HT)

They added that the protestors were released in the evening, and no FIR has been registered in the matter yet. However, officials said they have increased police deployment and installed barricades in the region on Gurugram-Faridabad Road.

According to police, around 300 protestors had set up tents at the site in the Aravallis near Faridabad.

Tarun Chopra, a protester, said the demonstration had been going on for 10 days. “Police detained protestors and vandalised all the tents. They have cordoned off the entire region so the municipal corporation can dump waste inside the Aravallis,” Chopra told HT. He claimed that this was the second such action by the Faridabad police.

Chopra alleged, “Despite the National Green Tribunal (NGT) prohibiting littering, dumping municipal solid waste, and construction debris in the Aravalli forest regions, MCF continues to dump waste in the hills and in Bandhwari.”

A senior MCF official said the site in question is not part of the Aravallis and belongs to the Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL). “The site is being used temporarily until the new material processing facility is not ready,” the official added.

Earlier on October 16, the Faridabad police detained multiple protestors, removed their tents and formed a human chain to let municipal corporations garbage trucks through to dump waste.

Dumping waste in the Aravalli hills violates the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, the Forest (Conservation) Act, general environmental laws, and strict Supreme Court and NGT orders that prohibit waste disposal and degradation in the eco-sensitive Aravalli range.