Gurugram citizens protest ‘faulty’ garbage mixing practice at transfer stations

The residents demanded that Ecogreen, the concessionaire roped in by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) for solid waste management in the city

After the outrage over the practice of compacting mixed waste and sending it to the Bandhwari landfill, a group of residents held a protest at the transfer station of Ecogreen Energy in Sector 43.

Residents, on Sunday, protested outside an Ecogreen transfer station opposite Paras Hospital to protest the concessionnaire’s practice of compacting mixed waste. (HT Photo)

The residents demanded that Ecogreen, the concessionaire roped in by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) for solid waste management in the city, introduce better practices for processing waste, including segregation before compacting so as to prevent loss of resources due to mixing of dry waste, sanitary waste and wet waste, which would otherwise be used for compost.

Hindustan Times ran a report on Sunday about waste segregation not being done at Ecogreen’s transfer stations and also the practice of compacting mixed waste. The issue sparked fresh protest at the transfer station, opposite Paras Hospital in Sector 43, on Sunday.

The protesting residents held up banners and hoardings,displaying messages on segregation and mixed waste composting.

“The protest is basically about Ecogreen’s ineffectiveness as a concessionaire for waste management. We also wanted to protest against the compacting of mixed waste by Ecogreen, which makes scientific processing of waste almost impossible and even results in contamination of lead, mercury and other hazardous compounds during the composting process,” said Ruchika Sethi, a member of Citizens for Clean Air, a citizen activist group, who spearheaded the protest.

There was a call for better enforcement of Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 for “public health safety and efficient waste management” by the protesting residents. “Why should mechanisation be promoted for segregation? Segregation at source is very much possible. MCG should enforce SWM Rules and not let Ecogreen take mixed waste and compact it. They are planning to install a machine for segregating and composting waste next year. But there’s no word on what will happen to all the waste that is accumulated till then. Dry waste recycling and wet waste composting make for optimal use of resources and societies that are doing it, should be promoted,” Kavita Bansal, a resident of Sector 54 who took part in the protest, said.

Citizens also protested the fact that due to organic waste being mixed with other waste and compacted, it would lead to harmful substances such as arsenic and lead contaminating the compost and making mixed waste hazardous. “In my society, we segregate waste into wet and dry waste, which is further segregated into recyclable and rejected waste. Thereafter, the wet waste and e-waste are mixed at these transfer stations. Material recovery facility will not be effective if mixed waste is compacted,” Shona Chatterjee, a resident of Silver Oaks, DLF Phase 1, who was also part of the protest, said.

Yashpal Yadav, MCG Commissioner, said that they are with the residents on this issue and would go for composting in a big way all over the city.

“If any colony does composting, it can avail of the user charges (for garbage collection). The MCG shall purchase compost at ₹5 per kg. We have finalised the technology and are in the process of empaneling agencies, which will help residents in setting up compost plants and running them,” Yadav said.

Yadav said that segregation should be a big part of the waste management project and awareness programmes shall be tailored and carried out accordingly. “Ecogreen has two chambered vehicles, which will collect segregated waste,” Yadav said.

Despite repeated calls and messages, no official from Ecogreen was available for comment on the issue.