Drone survey to check legacy waste processing at Bandhwari landfill in Gurugram

Earlier on June 13, MCG commissioner PC Meena had asked MCG teams deployed at Bandhwari landfill to carry out a drone survey every month to check the volume of legacy waste

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) will carry out a drone survey of the Bandhwari landfill every fortnight to keep a tab on the volume of legacy waste, civic body officials said on Friday.

The Bandhwari landfill in Gurugram. (Parveen Kumar/ HT)

Earlier on June 13, MCG commissioner PC Meena had asked MCG teams deployed at Bandhwari landfill to carry out a drone survey every month to check the volume of legacy waste. “Now, the drone survey will take place every fortnight,” said Pardeep Kumar, MCG joint commissioner.

Officials said the surveillance will also do a status check of the waste processing done by the private agencies hired by the civic body.

The dumping and processing of fresh waste is being done at a newly constructed two-acre site near the old landfill. The civic body started dumping solid waste at the new site since last month, said officials.

Meanwhile, Meena called a meeting on Friday to discuss issues related to solid waste management. “Such surveillance has helped us in the past and we have decided to use drones to monitor the present status of the Bandhwari landfill,” he said.

Meena said the MCG is trying to process as much solid waste generated from Gurugram so that the old landfill site could be remediated. “Our plan is to involve all private agencies and complete the process at the earliest. I have directed teams to conduct a drone survey every 14 days. Our aim is to process at least 15,000 tonnes of waste on a daily basis so that we can process the entire legacy waste within a few months,” he said.

Gurugram dumps around 100 tonnes of solid waste at the Bandhwari landfill daily. Currently, the landfill has around 2.3 million tonnes of waste and is estimated to be 34 metres tall, said officials.

The MCG has also decided to install 13 CCTV cameras at the landfill site. The additional commissioner has directed officials to install internet protocol cameras for real-time tracking of waste management.

“All the vehicles involved in dumping waste at Bandhwari landfill should be GPS-linked and the weight of each vehicle should be verified,” he said.

Officials said if the private agencies fail to meet their waste processing deadlines, penalties will be imposed on them.