MCG to continue garbage dumping at Bandhwari landfill

Gurugram dumps around 100 tonnes of garbage at the Bandhwari landfill daily. At present, the landfill has around 2.5 million tonnes of waste and is estimated to be 38m tall, making it one of the largest dump sites in north India. The leachate from the landfill is also aversely impacting the ecologically sensitive Aravallis

Going back on its earlier declaration that no fresh garbage will be dumped or processed at the oversaturated Bandhwari landfill in the Aravallis from February 1, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) on Friday said it will continue to dump and process a portion of the fresh waste at the landfill itself, instead of sending it to another site.

MCG commissioner PC Meena at the Bandhwari landfill on Friday. (Parveen Kumar/ HT)

PC Meena, MCG commissioner, said after trying all other possible solutions, they decided to start transporting segregated waste to the Bandhwari landfill and will clear the site at the earliest.

Civic officials said they had identified five sites — Basai, Daultabad, Nainwal, Kadarpur and Hyatpur— in Gurugram to dump and process fresh waste, but owing to resistance from residents in those areas, they failed to start the project at those sites.

“Our new plan is to process fresh waste at every society and sector and that will reduce the burden on the landfill. All areas have their own compost pits and undertaking the processing at the local level will make it easier for MCG to process the remaining waste,” Meena said.

Gurugram dumps around 100 tonnes of garbage at the Bandhwari landfill daily. At present, the landfill has around 2.5 million tonnes of waste and is estimated to be 38m tall, making it one of the largest dump sites in north India. The leachate from the landfill is also aversely impacting the ecologically sensitive Aravallis..

Meena said with the support of all residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) the overall waste will be reduce to 25 tonnes daily and that amount will not be much to process. “We have formed teams who are daily visiting areas and penalising people for not segregating waste. Also, we are spreading awareness so that more and more societies start their own composting plants,” he said.

Meena said four agencies have been finalised to clear the legacy waste from Bandhwari from next week. “The new agencies will each clear and process 200,000 tonnes of waste,” the commissioner said.

The new agencies will have to first conduct bio-remediation of waste at Bandhwari and then the waste will pass through trommel machines to produce compost, inert (concrete waste) and refuse derived fuel (RDF),” he said.

Naresh Kumar, joint commissioner of MCG, said they are keeping a check on the processing units. “We are working on the disposal of legacy waste in compliance with the instructions given by the National Green Tribunal (NGT),” he said.

Kumar said 5,500 tonnes per day of legacy waste is being disposed at at the Bandhwari site, which will be increased to 7,500 tonnes per day by February 15. “For the disposal of fresh waste, 300 tonnes of fresh waste was simultaneously disposed of daily through the material recovery facilities established in Beriwala Bagh, Badshahpur, Sector 44 and Darbaripur and by various bulk waste generators,” he said.

The NGT, on January 30, expressed disappointment with the state of affairs and observed that there was no credible progress in clearing legacy waste from Bandhwari landfill. It directed that the oversight committee will now be headed by the Haryana chief secretary.

In September 2022, the tribunal had directed the Haryana chief secretary to deposit a sum of ₹100 crore with the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) in a ring-fenced account, in line with the “polluter pays” principle, as a compensation for continuing damage to the environment and public health. This amount is to be utilised for the restoration of the environment, the green court said.

.