HC halts waste dumping on 152 acres of eco-sensitive Aravallis near Faridabad’s Bhakri village

The order follows almost a month-long protest from local residents and environmentalists against the dumping of municipal and industrial waste in the area, allegedly by the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday directed the Haryana government to stop any further waste dumping on 152 acres of ecologically sensitive Aravalli land near the Bhakri village along the Gurugram-Faridabad Road.

The interim order, dated November 5, was issued in response to a November 3 petition by Anil Arora, a member of the Save Aravallis Trust. The court has sought the state government’s response, directing that no further dumping be carried out until the next hearing on December 4.

The order follows almost a month-long protest from local residents and environmentalists against the dumping of municipal and industrial waste in the area, allegedly by the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad (MCF). The protesters stressed that the waste dumping was damaging the area’s natural environment, polluting the surroundings, and putting local residents at health risk.

A senior MCF official said, “The dumping will be stopped with immediate effect. We will take cognisance of the issue.”

Tarun Chopra, a Faridabad resident and one of the protesters, said on Thursday,“Nearly 50 to 60 trucks of unsegregated waste were being dumped at the site daily. This was despite the National Green Tribunal (NGT) prohibiting the dumping of municipal solid waste and construction debris in the forest areas of the Aravallis. The dumping is also contaminating the groundwater in nearby villages.”

The protestors also highlighted reports of waste being set on fire at the site, further aggravating concerns over air pollution in the area.

“There were instances wherein we saw waste being burnt. It poses a serious health and environmental threat, particularly during periods of high air quality index (AQI), when the concentration of pollutants in the air is already elevated,” Chopra alleged.

Environmentalists alleged that dumping in ecologically sensitive areas began soon after the MCF was directed to stop dumping waste at the Bandhwari landfill following Union minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s intervention earlier this year.

They alleged that instead of putting in place a scientific waste management system, MCF shifted the problem to other environmentally sensitive locations in the Aravallis.

“The civic body failed to do its homework. There is a need to develop a scientific landfill and ensure proper waste segregation before disposal. There was no segregation of waste, and the authorities were violating the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026. The Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) should have penalised those responsible, but no action was taken despite such serious violations. This left residents with no option but to approach the high court,” claimed Vaishali Rana, an environmentalist.

Haryana ULB Minister Vipul Goel was unavailable for comment.

Earlier on October 26, Haryana Urban Local Bodies (ULB) Minister Vipul Goel told HT that Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini had approved a 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.

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

Local residents, however, expressed concern that the proposed plant could damage the eco-sensitive Aravallis.