The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has decided to impose a penalty on the four private companies, contracted to process legacy waste at the Bandhwari landfill, for delaying the process.
Civic officials said the agencies were given the contract to process 200,000 tonnes each of legacy waste in a timebound manner but they delayed the process for various reasons.
The agencies were asked to first undertake bio-remediation of waste and then pass the waste through trommel machines to produce compost, inert (concrete waste) and refuse derived fuel (RDF). But this process was not followed, said officials.
As a result, last month, the four agencies were penalised ₹41 lakh for not following proper procedure in treating waste.
On April 12, National Green Tribunal (NGT)-appointed panel had asked the MCG to expedite the remediation of legacy waste at the Bandhwari plant to ensure that they meet the September 2023 deadline set by the green tribunal.
Pradeep Kumar, MCG joint commissioner, who took charge on Thursday, said they are monitoring the process activities at the landfill on a daily basis. “We want to meet the September deadline and the processing needs to speed up. The only worry is the monsoon (usually arrives by July in NCR); the rains may slow the speed of remediation or entirely stop the exercise. We have asked the agencies to increase their current working hours, else we will impose a penalty depending on the weight they have not processed,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Pradeep Kumar, MCG joint commissioner, who took charge on Thursday, said they are monitoring the process activities at the landfill on a daily basis. “We want to meet the September deadline and the processing needs to speed up. The only worry is the monsoon (usually arrives by July in NCR); the rains may slow the speed of remediation or entirely stop the exercise. We have asked the agencies to increase their current working hours, else we will impose a penalty depending on the weight they have not processed,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}While the MCG is yet to calculate the fine amount to be levied on the four companies, senior officials said it could roughly work out to about ₹50,000 per day.
Kumar said their teams are deployed at the landfill and have been told to submit hourly reports so that they can check the outputs of all four agencies.
Gurugram dumps around 100 tonnes of solid waste at the Bandhwari landfill daily. Currently, the landfill has around 2.5 million tonnes of legacy waste and is estimated to be 38m tall, said the MCG.
Last year, the NGT had year directed Gurugram and Faridabad authorities to clear the landfill site and formed a panel to supervise the lengthy process.
Kumar said the agencies had to follow the process properly and were asked to submit a disposal certificate based on which payments were to be made. “We have set a target to clear the legacy waste at the landfill by September this year and if any delay occurs because the private agencies did not follow the process, then they will have to bear the fine,” he said.
MCG officials said the work order to the four companies were given on February 8, but there was a delay on their part in strating the work and completing the assigned targets. “There is a clause in the contract that allows us to penalise the company and we will act on that,” said Kumar.
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