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Nine-member Bandhwari committee to meet on October 4 to discuss way forward
The NGT has also imposed an environmental penalty of ₹100 crore on the government of Haryana for the damage caused to the Aravalli forests by the Bandhwari landfill where waste from Gurugram and Faridabad is dumped by the municipal authorities even now
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The nine-member stocktaking committee, formed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday to look into the Bandhwari landfill issue and prepare an action plan to clear the legacy waste, is likely to meet on October 4 to discuss the matter in detail, and chalk out the future course of action.
P Raghavendra Rao, chairman, Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), who also heads the nine-member committee, confirmed that they are planning to hold a meeting on October 4.
“We have taken serious cognizance of the order and are studying it minutely. A meeting is being planned on October 4 in which the entire issue will be discussed and feasible solutions and the future road map chalked out,” said Rao.
Rao also said they were planning to clear the legacy waste in Bandhwari by March 2023, but in light of the latest NGT order, they will take up the issue with stakeholders and expedite the work of clearing legacy waste.
The NGT has also imposed an environmental penalty of ₹100 crore on the government of Haryana for the damage caused to the Aravalli forests by the Bandhwari landfill where waste from Gurugram and Faridabad is dumped by the municipal authorities even now.
The NGT has also directed the municipal authorities to remove the legacy waste from the site and stop the dumping of fresh waste. It asked the state government to deposit the ₹100 crore within a month so that the money could be “used for making alternative arrangements for waste management”.
The tribunal also did not accept the action plan submitted by the Haryana government to manage waste at Bandhwari, and instead formed the nine-member committee, headed by Rao, and directed the panel to submit a report by January 15, 2023.
The committee includes additional chief secretary of the urban local bodies, additional chief secretary of the environment department, deputy commissioners of Faridabad and Gurugram , commissioners of the municipal corporations of Faridabad and Gurugram , Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) and regional officer, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
The NGT latest directions came on two separate petitions filed by environmentalist Vivek Kamboj and city resident Poonam Yadav, who alleged that the government has failed to manage waste at Bandhwari and it was impacting public health and the environment at large.
