Bhankri villagers urge minister to relocate waste processing plant

The project, estimated to cost ₹17.12 crore, aims to scientifically process around 438,000 metric tonnes of municipal solid wasteper day

Residents of Bhankri village and Sainik Colony met with Urban Local Bodies (ULB) minister Vipul Goel on Monday to request the relocation of the proposed waste processing plant near the Aravallis in Bhankri, where a temporary dumping site is currently set up.

The minister assured villagers that the facility would process garbage rather than allow it to accumulate. (HT)

The residents expressed concern that the proposed plant could damage the eco-sensitive Aravallis.

According to Goel, chief minister Nayab Singh Saini approved the proposal on October 24 to establish a 600-tonne-per-day pre-processing plant on Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL) land in Bhankri, along the Gurugram-Faridabad Road.

He assured villagers that the facility would process garbage rather than allow it to accumulate, and said their concerns would be brought to the government’s attention.

“This initiative is an important step towards making waste management in the area organised, scientific, and effective. Providing a clean environment to citizens, protecting public health, and ensuring a permanent solution to the problems of local residents is our priority,” Goel’s statement read.

Goel said measures, including bio-culture sprays and an effluent treatment plant, would control odour and treat wastewater.

The meeting follows Sunday’s demonstrations, during which more than 1,000 villagers and environmental activists marched to protest the alleged dumping of mixed waste in a protected Aravallis zone by the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad (MCF).

Villagers and activists claim that waste disposal in the ecologically sensitive Aravalli region could damage its green cover, contaminate groundwater and affect the health of nearby communities. They have demanded that the site be shifted elsewhere.

On Saturday, the day 10 of the protest, around 40 protesters were briefly detained. While protesters alleged that the police removed their tents and cordoned off the area to facilitate the entry of garbage trucks, police claimed that protesters pelted stones and attacked personnel.

Meanwhile, the MCF has maintained that the site in question is not part of the Aravallis and belongs to the HPGCL. “The site is being used temporarily until the new material processing facility is ready,” an official had told HT on Sunday.

The protests against the waste dumping began on October 16.