Haryana pollution board tells Ecogreen to pay fine levied by NGT

In August, a bench of NGT, headed by chairman Adarsh Kumar Goel, imposed the penalty on Ecogreen Energy for causing environmental damage around the Bandhwari landfill site.

The Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) this week issued a show cause notice to Ecogreen Energy, the concessionaire engaged by Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) for waste management, asking the company to submit a penalty of ₹2.5 lakh levied by National Green Tribunal (NGT) by October 1.

In August, NGT imposed a fine of ₹2.5 lakh on Ecogreen Energy for causing environmental damage around Bandhwari landfill site. (HT)

In August, a bench of NGT, headed by chairman Adarsh Kumar Goel, imposed the penalty on Ecogreen Energy for causing environmental damage around the Bandhwari landfill site. The bench observed that Ecogreen Energy had failed to comply with the Solid Waste Management Rules (2016) of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

NGT’s decision to impose the penalty came in response to a petition filed city-based environmentalists Vivek Kamboj and Amit Chaudhary, seeking action against improper waste management practices in the forested areas around Gurugram and Faridabad. As part of the proceedings, several residents from villages around the Bandhwari landfill had appeared before the NGT alleging water contamination in the region. They also said that continued dumping of waste at the Bandhwari landfill site has resulted in “dirty, black water” or leachate streaming into the Aravalli forest and polluting aquifers around Delhi, Faridabad and Gurugram.

Without specifying whether Ecogreen plans to comply with the HSPCB notice, CEO Ankit Aggarwal said, “We are working on a detailed plan to ensure compliance to the CPCB recommendations.”

Earlier this month, the MCG had also levied a fine of almost ₹34 lakh on Ecogreen Energy for failing to ensure proper door-to-door collection of garbage from multiple areas in Gurugram. It was also deemed a violation of the SWM Rules, 2016. 

On September 16, Hindustan Times reported that Ecogreen Energy has continued to dump mixed waste in Bandhwari after compacting it at its transfer stations in the city. Environmentalists alleged that this, too, was in contravention of the waste management rules.