Protesters voice objections to WTE plant at Bandhwari landfill

Around 90 citizens from Gurugram, Faridabad and Delhi staged a protest outside the Bandhwari landfill site on Sunday, voicing their objections against a waste-to-energy (WTE) plant that is proposed to come up at the site

Around 90 citizens from Gurugram, Faridabad and Delhi staged a protest outside the Bandhwari landfill site on Sunday, voicing their objections against a waste-to-energy (WTE) plant that is proposed to come up at the site. Residents from Bandhwari and Mangar villages, which are closest to the landfill, besides campaigners from the Aravalli Bachao citizens’ group, raised slogans and sang to mark their objections.

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The group, which including at least 30 children, detailed its apprehensions over the prospect of a WTE plant in the Aravallis, which would further perpetuate the environmental degradation brought about due to the landfill. Protesters also alleged that environmental clearance (EC) for the proposed WTE has been obtained in violation of the environment ministry’s environmental impact assessment (EIA) rules.

Talking about the potential threat to ecology and human health, Dr Sarika Verma, an ENT specialist based in Gurugram, said, “Dioxins and furans generated by WTE plants are among the most toxic substances known to man. Inhaling these can lead to respiratory disorders, cardiovascular diseases and lung cancer.”

Verma also pointed out that fly ash, a residue of incinerated waste, is extremely toxic. “When it is dumped in the open, it contaminates the soil, air, surrounding water bodies and groundwater as well,” she said.

Dhir Singh, a resident of Bandhwari village, said, “Ever since this landfill came here 10 years ago, it has completely poisoned our groundwater. A WTE plant will poison the air as well.”

Singh also pointed out that in March 2018, when the Haryana State Pollution Control Board held a public hearing for the project, it was not adequately publicised. “No one received any advance notice of a public hearing. Those who did go never received a copy of the minutes of the meeting. As people who will be most affected by the WTE plant, we were never offered a fair chance to voice our objections,” he said.

Municipal commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh, and additional commissioner, Jaspreet Kaur, did not respond to multiple requests for comment on Sunday. Dhiraj Kumar, the MCG’s joint commissioner, did not directly address allegations made by Sunday’s protesters, but clarified that the MCG is moving ahead with its plan to reclaim the landfill site and that the construction of the WTE plant will commence soon.

“Our main issue is availability of land within the demarcated site. At present, there is not enough to start construction of the WTE plant because of the quantity of waste which has accumulated. The process of bioremediating legacy waste has begun and we are trying our best to clear it up soon, so that there is enough land for the WTE plant,” Kumar said.

Ecogreen Energy, the MCG’s concessionaire for waste management and the executive body behind the WTE plant, could not be reached for comment on Sunday. Speaking to HT last Thursday, a spokesperson for the company had estimated a time frame of at least two years for the WTE plant to start operations.