Leachate spill in Aravalli forest: Ggm civic body yet to respond to HSPCB notice
Two months after the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) sent the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) a show-cause notice regarding leachate spillage in the Aravalli forest, the corporation is yet to respond, officials of the pollution body said
Two months after the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) sent the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) a show-cause notice regarding leachate spillage in the Aravalli forest, the corporation is yet to respond, officials of the pollution body said.
An RTI filed by a city-based environmentalist revealed that in December last year, the HSPCB’s notice, which was sent in accordance with orders of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), asked “why environmental compensation of ₹2,10,00,000 (April 2020 to December 2021)” for non-compliance with the green court’s orders regarding proper environmental clearances for processing of waste leading to “irreversible damage to the environment” may not be imposed.
Kuldeep Singh, regional officer of HSPCB, Gurugram (north), said, “Following the orders of the NGT, the pollution control board took action regarding leachate spillage and sent a show-cause notice to the authorities concerned. We have not received any response yet and are in the process of starting prosecution. Samples of leachate were tested regularly and pollutants found.”
In August last year, a report released by HSPCB showed several toxins in samples of leachate from the Bandhwari landfill site. The samples were collected from three sites--the outlet of the leachate treatment plant, the leachate pond formed outside the landfill in the second week of August and the leachate pond formed inside the forest. Parameters like biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), zinc, chloride, fluoride were found higher than permissible norms.
Vaishali Rana Chandra, the environmentalist who had complained about the issue to the pollution control board, said, “In the past two years, samples have been tested six times by the pollution control board, and heavy toxins have been found each time. I had filed an RTI, which revealed that even after MCG received show-cause notices in December, it did not respond. Meanwhile, the Aravalli forest continues to be polluted and groundwater in Bandhwari continues to be contaminated.”
In January, HT had reported that leachate from the Bandhwari landfill had formed ponds in the Aravalli forest area, posing an environmental hazard and threat to the wildlife in the area. During a spot visit, HT found a dark oily liquid flowing onto the road near the landfill, where around 1,800 tonnes of waste is dumped daily from Gurugram and Faridabad. The landfill also has about 2.5 million tonnes of legacy waste, according to environmentalists and MCG.
Officials from the MCG did not respond for comment till the filing of this copy, despite several attempts.