Rights body visits Bandhwari, asks MCG to build drains around landfill

A team from the Haryana Human Rights Commission (HHRC) visited the Bandhwari landfill site on Friday amid reports that leachate from the dumping ground was polluting the groundwater in nearby villages, officials said

A team from the Haryana Human Rights Commission (HHRC) visited the Bandhwari landfill site on Friday amid reports that leachate from the dumping ground was polluting the groundwater in nearby villages, officials said.

Gurugram, India-May 19, 2023: Deep Bhatia, Haryana Human Rights Commission Chairman visit at Bandhwari waste treatment plant and talks with officers about the leachate problem at Gurugram-Faridabad road, in Gurugram, India, on Friday, 19 May 2023. (Photo by Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times)(Pic to go with Leena Dhankar's story)

HHRC chairperson Deep Bhatia, who led the team, interacted with Bandhwari villagers and directed Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) officials to complete the construction of a drainage system around the landfill to stop leakage of leachate into the neighbouring waterbodies and the protected Aravallis at the earliest.

“I have directed MCG officials to get sampling done at a waterbody where there is a possibility of leachate accumulation. I told them to keep us posted regarding waste and leachate management at the landfill site from time to time. For this, the civic body and its concessionaire must involve local environmentalists,” Bhatia said.

Prior to Friday’s visit, the rights panel had taken cognisance of various media reports about the collection of leachate in the area.

MCG officials said they plan to involve local residents and environmentalists while planning new initiatives for proper leachate management.

MCG joint commissioner Naresh Kumar, who was also present at the landfill site, said the civic body has decided to hold a few meetings with city-based environmentalists and will chalk out a detailed plan to sort out the issue. “We will ensure that we involve them and take their views before taking any decision,” he said.

On December 30 last year, to resolve the issue of excess legacy waste at Bandhwari, a state committee constituted by the National Green Tribunal decided that from February 15, 2023, onwards, 70% fresh waste generated by Gurugram and 50% waste from Faridabad will not be dumped at the landfill. The deadline was later extended till March 31 and now at least by September, said officials.

Presently, the civic agency has readied a two-acre plot near the landfill for dumping and processing the civic waste generated by the city on a daily basis.

The MCG has also set up material recovery facilities (MRFs) at Beri Bagh, Badshahpur, Sector 44 and Darbaripur. Operations at the Ullawas and South City-2 MRFs were suspended after protests by local residents, said officials.

Gurugram generates 1,300 tonnes of garbage daily, most of which is sent to Bandhwari, whereas Faridabad transports around 1,000 tonnes of waste on a daily basis to the landfill, officials added.

MCG officials said that they have already started removing leachate from the Bandhwari landfill and are discharging it into the sewage treatment plants (STPs) after several complaints were received that the leachate had contaminated waterbodies in the Aravallis, posing a serious threat to wildlife.

Kumar said the civic body is taking all possible measures to ensure leachate does not flow into the water pits in the Aravallis and has started transporting leachate in tankers to Behrampur.

“We have plans to construct a drainage system around the Bandhwari landfill to stop leaking into the neighbouring waterbodies and the protected Aravallis range. Also, we are using suction pumps to remove leachate from the landfill site,” Kumar added.

Several city-based environmentalists also visited the landfill site on Friday and took the rights panel members to a waterbody contaminated with leachate.

Environmentalist Vaishali Rana, who was also present at the site said, “In 2019, the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (Neeri) concluded in its report that the groundwater contamination had spread to five surrounding villages. It’s been four years since then and the toxic liquid must have travelled further in the underground aquifers”, she said.

Rana said they requested Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) to collect fresh samples of leachate for testing in the presence of the chairperson of the rights panel. “We are awaiting the lab reports. What was more shocking was that this huge mining pit of about three acres, which had gallons of water for wildlife, has been totally drained out and emptied by the MCG,” she said.

Roma J Vinayak, another city-based environmentalist who was also present at the landfill site, said they voiced their concerns along with the affected villagers.

“The extent of contamination of groundwater needs to be determined by an institution of national repute. The last study was done four years back in 2019, when it was found that five villages around the landfill had contaminated groundwater unfit for human consumption. The stench in the air lingers inside the lungs, one can only imagine the plight of the villagers here. The landfill is constantly expanding its area,” Vinayak added.

Environmentalists said fresh dumping at the landfill needs to stop immediately and the area needs to be restored from the ₹100 crore environmental compensation set aside by the state government.

The environmentalists informed the HHRC chairperson that the population of the five villages which have contaminated ground water is approximately 50,000 and the lives of these people are at risk.

Some local villagers who were also present at the landfill site told the human rights panel members that they were suffering from various health issues and skin diseases.