Smoke from burning waste in Sector 23-A chokes residents

Residents said that the Huda plot had been originally earmarked to set up a hospital

The residents of sectors 21, 22, 23, among others, had a tough time on Monday evening as a waste dump from a plot close to Sector 23-A was set on fire and the foul smoke emanating from it filled the area.

The waste pile that was set on fire had been lying unattended for months on a 6-acre vacant plot belonging to Huda. (HT PHOTO)

The wasted dump kept burning for hours, as passersby clicked pictures and shot videos of it and sent them to the district administration, Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) and Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) on WhatsApp and other social media handles.

The waste pile that was set on fire had been lying unattended for months on a 6-acre vacant plot belonging to Huda.

“I was on my way home from office around 7.45pm when the stench from the burning waste pile hit my nose. When I reached Devi Lal Park in Sector 22, I could see the flames from the waste dump. They were visible from a distance of 500 metres. I clicked pictures and shot a video of the burning garbage pile and shared it on WhatsApp groups. I wish to know what fellow residents have to say about it,” Malkhan Singh, president, residents’ welfare association (RWA), Sector 23-A, said.

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“In a city like Gurgaon, which has, of late, been in then news over rising pollution levels, burning of garbage in the open is a sin. Yet, the local administration doesn’t seem to care,” Parimal Bardhan, another activist, said.

As air pollution in the city soared to alarming levels after Diwali last year, the administration went into a huddle and announced a host of mitigating measures, one of which was a crackdown on open burning of waste.

Bhawani Shankar Tripathy, a resident Sector 23-A, said, “The rotting garbage pile was probably set on fire by workers of the MCG’s sanitation department. The thick, pungent smoke nearly choked us last evening.”

Residents said that the 6-acre Huda plot had been earmarked for a hospital, but turned into a dumping ground over the last 2-3 years. Former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had also proposed to set up a Gymkhana Club on the said plot, but the project never got off the ground.

Yashpal Yadav, administrator, Huda, Gurgaon, said, “I have sought a report about the vacant plot from the engineers concerned and will take appropriate action.”