Gurugram: Debris processing mobile units of MCG unused since 2019

Two units were set up in March 2019, at a cost of around ₹12.52 crore, at the auto market in Basai to clear large piles of debris accumulated there. However, operations stopped in three months as MCG’s contractor had failed to get environmental impact assessment clearance

Two mobile units procured by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) for processing construction and demolition (C&D) waste have been lying unused since 2019, three months after they were pressed into service. With debris waste continuing to pile up in the city, officials of the MCG said they are now planning on moving one of the units to Baliawas village, next to the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road.

With debris waste continuing to pile up in the city, officials of the MCG said they are now planning on moving one of the mobile C&D units to Baliawas village, next to the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road. (HT Archive)

The two units had been set up, at a cost of around ₹12.52 crore, at the auto market in Basai to clear large piles of C&D waste accumulated there. However, within three months of starting operations, work was halted as the MCG’s contractor had not obtained environmental impact assessment (EIA) clearance from the ministry of environment, forest, and climate change (MoEF&CC).

Last week, during a review meeting of major MCG projects, officials submitted an update in the matter stating that work is halted due to pending EIA clearance.

“Action is being taken against the contractor for starting work without EIA. However, we are proceeding ahead, and planning on using at least one of the machines along Gurgaon-Faridabad Road to clear large piles of C&D waste scattered there. We have identified a site in Baliawas for it. The feasibility, environmental impact, and other such key issues are being looked into,” Sunder Sheoran, executive engineer, Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), MCG, said.

The C&D waste mobile crushing and screening units were inaugurated by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar in March 2019 and are capable of processing 400 tonnes of waste per day.

The then MCG commissioner Yashpal Yadav had stated that the purpose of the two units was to clear legacy waste (C&D waste lying scattered across the city for a long duration) while the Basai C&D plant would process fresh C&D waste.

According to MCG officials, the rationale behind placing a mobile unit along Gurgaon-Faridabad Road was to address the production of C&D waste along developing areas of Golf Course Extension Road, while the unit at Basai auto market will be accessible to areas along Dwarka Expressway and residential areas near Manesar border.

According to the MCG’s estimate, the city generates around 850 tonnes of C&D waste daily, most of which is scattered on roadsides and vacant plots.

“C&D waste is one of the primary reasons behind high levels of air pollution in the city. Besides causing respiratory-related issues, they also choke drains and contribute to waterlogging during the monsoon season. Unless the MCG starts acting on C&D waste on priority, the Basai plant too will meet the similar fate as the Bandhwari plant,” said Vaishali Rana, a city-based environmentalist, adding that she had filed a Right to Information (RTI) petition about the two mobile units in 2019, but failed to get a reply from the MCG.

The absence of the mobile units has also impacted production at the Basai C&D waste plant. Due to lack of space for storing raw as well as processed waste, the Basai plant has been functioning at a capacity of 300 tonnes per day despite being equipped to handle 1,800 tonnes per day.

Such is the space constraint at the plant that last month, the MCG asked Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) to lease its five-acre plot opposite the plant for storing processed and legacy C&D waste. The move came after a five-member committee, formed to explore ways to increase production of the Basai plant, recommended finding space for storing waste.

“From last week, we have started storing processed and legacy waste at GMDA’s site. This will help clear up space at the Basai plant and increase its production capacity,” said Sheoran.